The output of the local laser industry is likely to grow rapidly over the next few years as Taiwan aims to develop into a global laser industry supply center, the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) said yesterday.
Aiming to achieve the planned “Laser Valley” project in southern areas of the nation, the government plans to set up 10 industrial clusters, with total production value reaching NT$20 billion (US$663.78 million) by 2016, the ITRI said in a research report.
Currently, the value of the nation’s production of laser processing equipment is about NT$5 billion per year, the report said.
There are great business opportunities in the laser processing industry, the institute said, adding that the total output of such technology could be as much as NT$300 billion for Taiwan, as it can be applied to the electronic component, semiconductor, panel and metal sectors.
ITRI said the laser industry could become Taiwan’s next thriving sector and could help upgrade the nation’s optomechatronic, material and automation equipment manufacturing technologies.
The global output of the laser industry reached US$8.8 billion last year, ITRI’s Taiwan Industrial Economics and Knowledge Research Center said, predicting massive growth to US$10.1 billion next year.
The “Laser Valley” project began in July last year, offering ITRI assistance to relevant businesses in the research and development and trial manufacture of products such as laser sources, laser application modules, femtosecond laser applications and products in the field of additive manufacturing, all of which are key components of the industry.
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