The government is close to investing NT$450 million in a venture capital fund run by GIZA Venture Capital of Israel as part of its broader efforts to boost Taiwan's high-technology sector, a government official told the Chinese-language Liberty Times on Monday.
The multimillion investment marked the government's first-ever strategic collaboration with a private Israeli investment firm and will jointly raise the US$100-million GIZA IV fund, said Thomas Yeh (葉明峰), vice chairman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development.
The news came after the Executive Yuan's Development Fund (
"To enhance the competitiveness of Taiwanese tech firms, we plan to request [fund managers] allocate 20 percent of the fund to invest in Taiwan's industries, including the life sciences, software and communications sectors," James Ho (何俊輝), deputy secretary-general of the Development Fund management committee, said in a statement.
The government is slated to sign an agreement with the Tel Aviv-based GIZA by the end of next month in a move to enhance the development of Taiwan's and Israel's technology industries, the statement said.
As the Israeli investment firm has assisted numerous local companies to transfer technologies from its affiliates, the committee said that experience will further help Taiwan access key technologies in the software and communications sectors.
Potential investors may also include those based in the US and the Netherlands and other European countries, other Chinese-language newspapers reported without citing sources.
GIZA, established in 1992, will have funds of US$500 million after the new GIZA IV joins the other three funds totaling US$316 million, the committee said.
GIZA, one of Israel's biggest and most experienced venture capital firms, has helped 69 high-tech firms trade their shares in the US or Israel, and has helped some of them complete mergers. It currently employs a team comprised of 17 senior fund managers, the committee said in the statement.
During Friday's meeting, the committee also approved investments totalling NT$480 million in three industrial start-ups.
"These investments aim to enhance the development of the nation's information technology and biotech sectors," the committee said in a statement.
As of the end of June, the Development Fund had invested NT$6.65 billion in 42 venture capital companies at home and abroad. This figure was less than NT$8.5 billion the committee has approved for investment since 1985.
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