The Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) yesterday released a preliminary plan for the future development of various industries in Taiwan, as the government aims to attract more investment by differentiating the development trend and building a niche for each region.
The plan is part of the council’s program, dubbed “homes for industries, industries for homes,” that is designed to upgrade the nation’s overall competitiveness by mapping out the geographic location of industries. As part of the “Invest in Taiwan” project launched last year by the council, the program is also expected to drive up private investment in the coming decade, the council said.
Based on the council’s report, the program has attracted a total of NT$328 billion (US$10.82 billion) in potential investment since it was launched in January.
“Since global economic uncertainties may lead to a relatively ‘cold’ sentiment on the export sector next year, we have to retain the ‘warm’ momentum on domestic demand to be the driver of economic growth,” Council for Economic Planning and Development Minister Christina Liu (劉憶如) told a press conference.
In addition, more investment would bring more local job opportunities and push up incomes, further strengthening momentum in the private consumption sector, Liu said.
Beginning next year, “we will focus more on integrating these key industries with each region by helping them recruit adequate funds, qualified employees and appropriate lands,” she said.
The state-owned National Development Fund is expected to play an important role in the initial investment in these key industries, while relaxing investment regulations would be the other major priority.
The council also plans to launch a subsidy program for manpower training, which would help train local residents for employment in the key industries of their region, according to the council.
Under the council’s geographic location plan for various industries, tourism was the only sector that all regions showed an interest in developing, followed by their intentions to promote the development of creative and cultural industries and that of sophisticated, high-quality agriculture, the report showed.
By region, industries related to exhibitions and conventions, urban renewal, financial services and medical tourism would be centered in Taipei City, New Taipei City (新北市), Yilan County and Keelung, while industries related to electric vehicles, green energy and semiconductors would be key to developing Taoyuan, Hsinchu and Miaoli counties, the report said.
In Greater Taichung, Nantou and Changhua, precision machinery and bicycles are expected to be key industries for development, it said.
Industries of deep-sea water and international elementary and high schools will be set for Hualian and Taitung, while biotechnology would be developed across southern Taiwan, including Yunlin, Chiayi and Pingtung, Greater Tainan and Greater Kaohsiung, it said.
WASHINGTON’S INCENTIVES: The CHIPS Act set aside US$39 billion in direct grants to persuade the world’s top semiconductor companies to make chips on US soil The US plans to award more than US$6 billion to Samsung Electronics Co, helping the chipmaker expand beyond a project in Texas it has already announced, people familiar with the matter said. The money from the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act would be one of several major awards that the US Department of Commerce is expected to announce in the coming weeks, including a grant of more than US$5 billion to Samsung’s rival, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), people familiar with the plans said. The people spoke on condition of anonymity in advance of the official announcements. The federal funding for
HIGH DEMAND: The firm has strong capabilities of providing key components including liquid cooling technology needed for AI servers, chairman Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday revised its revenue outlook for this year to “significant” growth from a “neutral” view forecast five months ago, due to strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers from cloud service providers. Hon Hai, a major assembler of iPhones that is also known as Foxconn, expects AI server revenues to soar more than 40 percent annually this year, chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) told investors. The robust growth would uplift revenue contribution from AI servers to 40 percent of the company’s overall server revenue this year, from 30 percent last year, Liu said. In the three-year period
LONG HAUL: Largan Energy Materials’ TNO-based lithium-ion batteries are expected to charge in five minutes and last about 20 years, far surpassing conventional technology Largan Precision Co (大立光) has formed a joint venture with the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI, 工研院) to produce fast-charging, long-life lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, mobile electronics and electric storage units, the camera lens supplier for Apple Inc’s iPhones said yesterday. Largan Energy Materials Co (萬溢能源材料), established in January, is developing high-energy, fast-charging, long-life lithium-ion batteries using titanium niobium oxide (TNO) anodes, it said. TNO-based batteries can be fully charged in five minutes and have a lifespan of 20 years, a major advantage over the two to four hours of charging time needed for conventional graphite-anode-based batteries, Largan said in a
Taiwan is one of the first countries to benefit from the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, but because that is largely down to a single company it also represents a risk, former Google Taiwan managing director Chien Lee-feng (簡立峰) said at an AI forum in Taipei yesterday. Speaking at the forum on how generative AI can generate possibilities for all walks of life, Chien said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) — currently among the world’s 10 most-valuable companies due to continued optimism about AI — ensures Taiwan is one of the economies to benefit most from AI. “This is because AI is