The world's highest skyscraper, Taipei 101, yesterday welcomed the Bayer Group as its first tenant and is preparing for its second tenant, Swiss insurer Winter Life, to move in later this month.
Bayer, which is Germany's second-largest chemical and drug maker, will locate its Taiwan headquarters on the tower building's 53rd and 54th floors. The new office space accommodates about 230 of Bayer Taiwan's employees.
"We like this building very much, and believe it is the safest place to work, with the high-tech infrastructure and design," said Elmar Stachels, chief executive officer of Bayer's Greater China region, during the moving-in ceremony yesterday.
PHOTO: CHANG CHIA-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
With a five-year lease, Bayer believes the move will help it attract domestic and international businesses, as well as bolster its business in Taiwan, Stachels said.
Future tenants
Winter Life will relocate its Taiwan branch to Taipei 101 next Monday, said Harace Lin (
Other future tenants include Peoples' King International Co, D.B. Zwirn Advisors Taiwan and the Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp (TSE). The TSE is currently the largest tenant, holding the 9th to the 12th floors. It will move in by year's end.
Now that the first tenant has commenced operations in the building, more potential customers waiting on the sidelines will be more interested in exploring leasing options, said Calvin Wang (王治平), managing director of Jones Lang LaSalle International Property Consultants, the leading leasing agent for the skyscraper.
Currently, the occupancy rate at Taipei 101 is still about 35 percent for the 58,000-ping office space, but Wang is confident that the building will be 60 percent to 70 percent full by the end of the year, and next to full by the end of next year.
"Many companies have shown strong interest in making Taipei 101 their address these days, [giving it] prestige like the Empire State Building in New York City," Wang said.
As for the safety concerns of some prospective tenants following several accidents during the tower's construction, Wang said doubts had been dissolved now that the building had withstood several major earthquakes. As a result, current tenants were more interested in renting higher levels of the building.
Strict controls on access would also give confidence to customers, Wang said.
Floor pass
Taipei 101 utilizes the Visitor Access Kiosk System developed by Siemens AG, which enables visitors to key in the floor or company they want to visit.
With confirmation by the tenant, the visitor receives a pass allowing entry through a security door.
After several years flying high as Asia’s best Nvidia Corp proxy, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is increasingly vying with other artificial intelligence (AI) stocks for investor attention. Stock traders are chasing a wider array of beneficiaries as mainstream usage of AI creates demand for hardware beyond the most-advanced chips TSMC makes for Nvidia. Subthemes from the deepening memory crunch to advances in robotics are also luring bids. At the same time, investment caps on single stocks are pushing funds to diversify, while retail investors long familiar with TSMC through its US depositary receipts are being offered a broader set of
UNDER MICROSCOPE: Taiwan detained three people who allegedly conspired to buy servers in Taiwan and export them using fraudulent documentation, prosecutors said Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday urged Super Micro Computer Inc to tighten up on compliance after Taiwan detained three people this week for allegedly making fraudulent declarations about artificial intelligence (AI) servers made by its US partner. The development marked the nation’s first crackdown on semiconductor smuggling, which grew after the US slapped restrictions on exports of high-end chips such as Nvidia AI accelerators to China. Nvidia is “rigorous” in explaining regulations to all of its partners, Huang told reporters after arriving in Taipei. “Ultimately Super Micro has to run their own company,” he said in response to
Netherlands-based semiconductor equipment supplier ASML Holding NV yesterday said that it is planning to hire an additional 1,000 people in Taiwan this year in response to growing demand from clients. ASML had previously planned to recruit 600 people this year, but that the plan has been adjusted upward, ASML vice president and ASML Taiwan general manager Grace Wang (汪佳慧) told reporters. ASML has a workforce of more than 4,500 in Taiwan, accounting for about 10 percent of its global total, Wang said. This year’s recruitment campaign would focus on adding people in the customer support, manufacturing and supply chain domains to assist ASML
TECH RELIANCE: Growth is increasingly reflecting an unequal K-shaped distribution, where technology sectors outperform and other industries struggle, an expert said Standard Chartered Bank has significantly raised its forecast for Taiwan’s economic growth to 9.5 percent this year, up from 7.6 percent previously, citing surging artificial intelligence (AI) demand driving exports, semiconductor production and investment. The upgrade reflects a sustained AI supercycle that continues to fuel demand for advanced chips and technology infrastructure, which form the backbone of Taiwan’s exports, the bank said in a report this week. “We raise our 2026 growth forecast to reflect a much stronger-than-expected first-quarter GDP figure,” Standard Chartered senior economist for greater China and Asia Tommy Wu (胡東安) said in the report. Driven largely by a 35.3 percent
RSS