Taiwan is to launch an ambitious plan aimed at turning the nation into a world leader in the profitable integrated circuits (IC) design industry, reports said yesterday.
The country's science technology development designers hope to build on its success in the semiconductor industry over the past 10 years, the Chinese language media said.
The project, dubbed the Si-Soft Project (
At least 25,000 IC engineers will have to be trained in the next four years at a cost to the government of at least NT$10 billion (US$289.4 million), said Minister Without Portfolio Tsai Tsing-yen (
The Central Personnel Administration has agreed to add 85 openings for lecturers in domestic universities and colleges, particularly in the fields of system design, opto-electronics and communications to train the engineers, Tsai said.
The project is expected to be housed at one of the three locations -- the Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park (
"With the implementation of the project, Taiwan's IC industry would be enhanced to a new level," said John Hsuan (宣明智), vice chairman of United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) which is the nation's second biggest microchip maker.
According to government statistics, there were 135 IC design houses in Taiwan as of the end of last year, producing some NT$100 billion (US$289.44 million) worth of output.
* The government wants to spend at least NT$10 billion over the next four years training engineers.
* The goal of the project will be to develop at least five "key products" whose combined output would total NT$500 billion over the next 15 years.
It is estimated that the Si-Soft Project will increase the total production value of silicon-related industries in Taiwan to NT$10 trillion (US$286 billion) in 10 years, Tsai said.
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