By Yimou Lee and Ben Blanchard

TAIPEI, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Taiwan President Lai Ching-te

pledged on Friday to talk with the United States about President

Donald Trump's concerns over the chip industry and to invest

more in and buy more from the country, while ramping up defence

spending.

Trump spoke critically about Taiwan on Thursday, saying

he aimed to restore U.S. manufacturing of semiconductor chips

and repeating claims about Taiwan having taken away the industry

he wanted back in the United States.

Speaking to reporters after holding a meeting of the

National Security Council at the presidential office, Lai said

that the global semiconductor supply chain is an "ecosystem" in

which the division of work among various countries is important.

"We of course are aware of President Trump's concerns,"

Lai said.

"Taiwan's government will communicate and discuss with

the semiconductor industry and come up with good strategies.

Then we will come up with good proposals and engage in further

discussions with the United States," he added.

Taiwan is home to the world's largest contract

chipmaker, TSMC, a major supplier to companies

including Apple ( AAPL ) and Nvidia ( NVDA ), and a crucial part

of the developing AI industry.

Taiwan also runs a large trade surplus with the United

States, which surged 83% last year, with the island's exports to

the U.S. hitting a record $111.4 billion, driven by demand for

high-tech products such as semiconductors.

Lai said that the United States is Taiwan's largest

foreign investment destination and that Taiwan is the United

States' most reliable trade partner.

Trump has also previously criticised Taiwan, which faces

a growing military threat from China whose government claims the

island as its own territory, for not spending enough on defence,

a criticism he has made of many U.S. allies.

"Taiwan must demonstrate our determination to defend

ourselves," Lai said, adding his government is working to

propose a special budget this year to boost defence spending

from 2.5% of its GDP to 3%.