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Microsoft to invest half a billion NT$ in tech center

Software giant Microsoft Corp said yesterday that it will invest NT$550 million over three years in a planned technology center in Taipei. The Microsoft Technology Center (MTC) will be launched in the third quarter of the year, and will be the first Microsoft R&D center in southeast Asia.

"This project not only brings understanding of our technology, but also will drive the local economy, through knowledge learning and training, to new heights," said Doug Hauger, Microsoft's competitive and technical sales general manager, via video conference from the US yesterday.

Microsoft hopes the investment will generate more than NT$4 billion in revenue over the next three years for Taiwan's software industry by cooperating with 70 local software companies to develop new software solutions under its .NET technological infrastructure, Microsoft's Taiwan general manager Eunice Chiu (邱孟麗) said.

The .NET platform is a set of software technologies that Microsoft says will help connect information, people, systems and devices through the use of Web services.

The company plans to assemble 140 local and foreign technicians for the project and train over 2,800 Taiwanese professionals by holding various workshops, Chiu said.

Chiu did not say what type of software technology the center will focus on, but said Microsoft prefers alliances with companies that are willing to devote resources to working with Microsoft and have a strategic plan to develop Taiwan's software market. Chiu added that around 50 companies are interested in partnering with the center to date, but refused to elaborate on prospective candidates.

Some major software companies expressed optimism over the move, saying it may benefit Taiwan's software industry.

"I believe the center will help local software companies in terms of technical support and software talent cultivation," said Gavin Lin (林盛隆), spokesman of Soft-World International Corp (智冠科技), a game-software developer and distributor.

Wang Li-chieh (王立杰), vice president of Third Wave Publishing Co (第三波), an affiliate of Acer Inc that develops software and publishes IT magazines, also said the R&D sector will strengthen local competitiveness in view of the increasing number of software companies migrating to China.

"The center will speed up Taiwan's innovative processes. Besides, local software developers will have more chances to communicate with the leading-brand software [producer]," Wang said.

The center project was first announced last October, when Microsoft's group vice president of marketing and services Orlando Ayala visited Taiwan. The move was interpreted as a friendly gesture to offset the Fair Trade Commission's investigation into allegations that Microsoft's prices in Taiwan were excessive.

Microsoft has denied such speculation, contending that the project has nothing to do with the investigation. Analysts also voiced concern over an increasing dependence on Microsoft.
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