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Science parks hit record US$62bn last year: NSC

The nation's three major science parks produced a combined revenue of nearly NT$2 trillion (US$62.1 billion) last year, the National Science Council (NSC) said at a press conference yesterday.

NSC Deputy Minister Huang Wen-hsiung (黃文雄) said the NT$1.9664 trillion was a historic high and a 12.3 percent growth from the previous year.

He said that the council is optimistic that this year the science parks would generate a revenue of NT$2.23 trillion as well as provide an additional 200,000 job opportunities.

"Giving conservative estimates, this year Hsinchu Science Park [HSP, 新竹科學工業園區] is capable of reaching a NT$1.25 trillion revenue, while the Southern Taiwan Science Park [STSP, 南部科學工業園區] NT$0.62 trillion, and the Central Taiwan Science Park [CTSP, 中部科學工業園區] NT$0.36 trillion," Huang said.

Last year, the three parks failed to exceed the projected revenue of NT$2 trillion by a short gap, "partly because of the impact of a depressed US economy," he said.

"Since Taiwan is an export-oriented country in these fields, the exact figures for 2008 will depend on the global economy," he said. "However we remain optimistic, since Taiwan currently still holds a strong competitive edge globally in these fields."

Among businesses in the three science parks, semiconductor manufacturers continued to be in the lead, contributing about half, or 49.94 percent, of the total revenue, Huang said, adding that the photonics industry was responsible for 41.02 percent.

The fast developing photonic industry could eventually surpass the semiconductor industry percentage share of revenues since LCD/LED/solar cell panel developments and production is "driving the current market," he said.

"Taiwan in the next 10 years or so will lead the semiconductor industry quite steadily -- we have the best technology and talent that cannot be surpassed in the short-run, even if plants relocate to, say, China," HSP administration director-general Huang Der-ray (黃得瑞) said.

Future business recruitment, in addition to developments in the two strongest industries, will include those in the biomedical and green energy industries, among others, Chen said.

In addition, "talent recruitment and training will be a main focus for the science parks in the coming years, collaborating with higher level educational institutions to bring the best people into the parks," CTSP administration director-general Yang Wen-ke (楊文科) said.

"Locating appropriate land for the construction of more manufacturing plants will also be a priority," he said.

STSP administration director-general, Chen Chun-wei (陳俊偉) also said that around 86.25 percent of the science parks' available land for rent a total of 1,470.35 hectares is currently occupied.

"This translates to a NT$1713 million of revenue per hectare of land," he said.

While both STSP and CTSP are currently running with heavy debts, Chen said the benefits of the parks far outweigh their short-term financial burden on the country.
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