The government may seek to attract private investors or financial institutions to inject funds into DRAM makers if the legislature vetoes an industry revitalization plan in the third reading, a minister said yesterday.
“If the National Development Fund doesn’t inject capital into the companies, private sector investment is one alternative,” Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang (施顏祥) told a press conference.
Another option is to follow Japan’s lead and allow financial institutions to invest in companies filing for restructuring or bankruptcy, he said.
But this would require the government to formulate regulations first, he said.
“DRAM players have borrowed as much as NT$300 billion [US$9.1 billion] from banks,” Shih said.
These manufacturers should consider integrations to create a foundation strong enough to weather economic downturns, he said.
On Nov. 11, lawmakers passed a resolution to ax the government’s plan to revitalize the DRAM industry, which has been hit hard by the financial crisis, saying that the right time to inject capital had passed and the government should not waste taxpayers’ money.
Among the three companies that applied for the capital funding — Taiwan Memory Co (TMC, 台灣創新記憶體公司), Powerchip Semiconductor Corp (力晶半導體) and Kaohsiung-based Taiwan Creative Lab (台灣創造力實驗室) — TMC was approved for an initial capital injection of NT$4.9 billion.
Meanwhile, the ministry said computer, retail and wholesale services would make up the services category of an early harvest list for a proposed economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China.
There are two major categories of trade — merchandise and services — on the list.
Merchandise would include tariff reductions on approximately 500 items. The services category would comprise computer, retail and wholesale services.
The ministry hopes that China will lower restrictions — including on capital and outlet numbers — for Taiwanese companies competing in the services market across the Strait.
Whether other service sectors — such as telecoms and finances — will be included on the list will depend on evaluations and recommendations from certain government agencies, Shih said.
Taipei is set to formally begin ECFA negotiations with Beijing next month and the pact is expected to be inked at the fifth round of cross-strait talks in the middle of next year.
In related news, the minister said he couldn’t reveal details concerning the potential lifting of a ban on panel, semiconductor and petrochemical companies expanding their investment in China.
“[Talking about this] would affect share prices of listed companies,” Shih said, adding that the matter was still being discussed between ministries and the ban would only be lifted if the legislature agreed.
Shih told the Chinese-language Apple Daily on Dec. 19 that panel makers would be allowed to invest in China by the first quarter at the earliest and semiconductor makers by the second quarter at the earliest.
All applications would be reviewed on a case by case basis. The change would stipulate that advanced technology must be based in Taiwan and investment in China must not exceed investment at home, he was quoted as saying.
Also See: Government to target PRC, Indian, Indonesian markets
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”