The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday threw its support behind the Kuokuang Petrochemical project (國光石化), saying that failure to go ahead with the project could risk jeopardizing Taiwan’s competitiveness in the regional petrochemical industry and prompt local companies to move offshore.
“If the project doesn’t proceed, the downstream companies would move offshore, causing petrochemical players from the private sector to withdraw at least NT$200 billion [US$6.2 billion] of planned investment from Taiwan,” the ministry said in a statement.
Kuokuang Petrochemical is a joint investment by state-owned CPC Corp, Taiwan (中油) and the private sector. The project is set to churn out resources, including rubber, plastics and special chemicals, to be applied in the production of a variety of products, including electronics, computers, solar cells and biotechnologies , the ministry said.
If the project is vetoed, Taiwan would lose its competitiveness in the industry to Singapore, whose population and territory are much smaller. Singapore has only 18 percent of Taiwan’s population and a land mass of 2 percent of Taiwan.
The ministry said that this year Singapore began to enjoy tariff-free imports of petrochemicals from China, thanks to the signing of a free-trade agreement.
The Southeast Asian city-state has seen a number of foreign investors setting up petrochemical projects on Jurong island, which is set to boost Singapore’s economy with petrochemical output expected to match that of Taiwan next year, the statement said.
The ministry’s response came after opposition raised by Academia Sinica research fellows and a number of renowned academics, including Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲), who are against the petrochemical complex that Kuokuang Petrochemical Technology Co (國光石化科技) plans to build on coastal wetlands in Changhua County.
An opposition proposal states that in order to protect public health and the local eco-system, as well as to promote a national policy of energy conservation and carbon reduction, the government should suspend plans for further petrochemical plants because they produce huge amounts of carbon dioxide.
However, the government defended the project, saying more investment would be attracted to Taiwan if the plant is built, especially after signing the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) with China last month.
More firms would set up production facilities in Taiwan to make use of close access to abundant petrochemical resources, if the Kuokuang plant goes ahead, the ministry said.
The Kuokuang investment would provide NT$56.6 billion in tax revenues, as well as create as many as 18,000 jobs, thus benefiting Taiwan’s economy the ministry said.
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Intel Corp has named Tasha Chuang (莊蓓瑜) to lead Intel Taiwan in a bid to reinforce relations between the company and its Taiwanese partners. The appointment of Chuang as general manager for Intel Taiwan takes effect on Thursday, the firm said in a statement yesterday. Chuang is to lead her team in Taiwan to pursue product development and sales growth in an effort to reinforce the company’s ties with its partners and clients, Intel said. Chuang was previously in charge of managing Intel’s ties with leading Taiwanese PC brand Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), which included helping Asustek strengthen its global businesses, the company
Taiwanese suppliers to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) are expected to follow the contract chipmaker’s step to invest in the US, but their relocation may be seven to eight years away, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. When asked by opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) in the legislature about growing concerns that TSMC’s huge investments in the US will prompt its suppliers to follow suit, Kuo said based on the chipmaker’s current limited production volume, it is unlikely to lead its supply chain to go there for now. “Unless TSMC completes its planned six
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new
RSS