A survey conducted by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday showed that a growing number of Taiwanese exporters are setting up research and development (R&D) centers to strengthen their global competitiveness.
According to the results of the survey, based on valid responses from 2,636 manufacturers and exporters, 45.1 percent of the companies surveyed said they had set up R&D centers as of the end of last year, up 7.4 percentage points from a year earlier and the highest in four years.
Among the companies running R&D centers, 98 percent operate their centers in Taiwan, and only 9.9 percent had R&D operations overseas, the ministry said.
The poll found 55.2 percent of the 1,329 local manufacturers surveyed said they had R&D centers, compared with 52.4 percent of the 769 manufacturers who also owned trading businesses and only 9.7 percent of the 538 trading companies surveyed.
The ministry said that 70.6 percent of the surveyed exporters with more than 200 employees said they had R&D centers, but the ratio fell as exporters’ workforces became smaller.
The poll found 53.8 percent of the surveyed exporters with between 100 and 199 employees had opened R&D centers, compared with 35.6 percent of exporters with between 50 and 99 employees and 15.5 percent of exporters with between five and 49 employees, the survey found.
Among the surveyed companies, 100 expressed an interest in formally opening global operations headquarters in Taiwan, down two from a year earlier.
Of the 100 interested companies, 98 were manufacturers that also had trading businesses, the ministry said.
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