The National Science Council said it will help firms in the Tainan Science-based Industrial Park (台南科學園區) deal with vibrations that will come from the planned high speed railway, National Science Council Chairman Wei Che-ho (魏哲和) said yesterday.
Wei said at the Legislative Yuan that the council would help firms to enhance their ability to resist the vibrations.
"The priority now is to communicate with high-tech firms and help them understand the government's plan for the railroad," Wei said yesterday.
Wei repeated more than once on the vibration issue that problems would eventually be solved through technology.
Parts of the industrial park are only 200m from the planned rail line. Many firms believe that vibrations created by the railroad (about 68 decibels) is far beyond acceptable limits.
Since February, worries over the vibrations have resulted in a chain reaction of high-tech firms aborting projects at the park.
Most of the firms that have decided to look elsewhere are DRAM chipmakers, including Winbond Electronics Corp (華邦電子), Silicon Integrated Systems Co (矽統科技) and Chi Mei Electronics Corp (奇美電子).
Taiwan Semiconductor Manu-facturing Co (
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications has initiated a project to figure out how to reduce the railroad's vibration down to about 50 decibels.
In an effort to offer a solution to the problem, officials at the Council's National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering will soon carry out a field investigation in Japan to study the structure of the Shinkansen (
Wei said that the earthquake project would do its best to help companies to lower vibrations down to about 48 decibels, which most high-tech firms say they can accept.
Tainan County residents established a self-help group to call for a solution to the vibration problem.
Hou Shui-sheng (
The domestic unit of the Chinese-owned, Dutch-headquartered chipmaker Nexperia BV will soon be able to produce semiconductors locally within China, according to two company sources. Nexperia is at the center of a global tug-of-war over critical semiconductor technology, with a Dutch court in February ordering a probe into alleged mismanagement at the company. The geopolitical tussle has disrupted supply chains, with some carmakers reportedly forced to cut production due to chip shortages. Local production would allow Nexperia’s domestic arm, Nexperia Semiconductors (China) Ltd (安世半導體中國), to bypass restrictions in place since October on the supply of silicon wafers — etched with tiny components to
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings Ltd has applied for regulatory approval to acquire the Taiwan operations of Germany-based Delivery Hero SE's Foodpanda in a deal valued at about US$600 million. Grab submitted the filing to the Fair Trade Commission on Friday last week, with the transaction subject to regulatory review and approval, the company said in a statement yesterday. Its independent governance structure would help foster a healthy and competitive market in Taiwan if the deal is approved, Grab said. Grab, which is listed on the NASDAQ, said in the filing that US-based Uber Technologies Inc holds about 13 percent of
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday received government approval to deploy its advanced 3-nanometer (3nm) process at its second fab currently under construction in Japan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a news release. The ministry green-lit the plan for the facility in Kumamoto, which is scheduled to start installing equipment and come online in 2028 with a monthly production capacity of 15,000 12-inch wafers, the ministry said. The Department of Investment Review in June 2024 authorized a US$5.26 billion investment for the facility, slated to manufacture 6- to 12nm chips, significantly less advanced than 3nm process. At a meeting with
Taiwan’s food delivery market could undergo a major shift if Singapore-based Grab Holdings Ltd completes its planned acquisition of Delivery Hero SE’s Foodpanda business in Taiwan, industry experts said. Grab on Monday last week announced it would acquire Foodpanda’s Taiwan operations for US$600 million. The deal is expected to be finalized in the second half of this year, with Grab aiming to complete user migration to its platform by the first half of next year. A duopoly between Uber Eats and Foodpanda dominates Taiwan’s delivery market, a structure that has remained intact since the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) blocked Uber Technologies Inc’s