Qualcomm Inc and Microsoft Corp are evaluating the feasibility of investing in the government-led “Asia Silicon Valley Development Plan,” which would help deepen collaboration between Taiwanese start-ups and international tech companies, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
“Qualcomm and Microsoft both expressed their willingness to participate in the program,” Minister of Economic Affairs Lee Chih-kung (李世光) told reporters before a conference on the plan in Taoyuan.
Qualcomm is interested in cooperating with the Industrial Technology Research Institute (工研院) to develop new technologies, and Microsoft might establish a research and development (R&D) unit in Taiwan, Lee said
The ministry is also approaching other international tech companies to invest in Taiwanese start-ups or set up R&D centers, Lee said.
The government plans to form three software and hardware system integration companies, targeting the Internet-of-Things (IoT), big data and driverless car technology, Lee said, adding that the government would also financially support the establishment of at least 100 start-ups.
“Taiwan cannot miss the opportunity of tapping the rising IoT industry, which could provide more than US$6 trillion worth of business opportunities by 2025,” Asia Silicon Valley Development chief executive officer David Weng (翁嘉盛) said, citing McKinsey & Company research.
The Asia Silicon Valley Development Plan aims to match Taiwanese companies with international companies, to encourage collaborations on new technologies for IoT applications and to expand the presence of Taiwanese firms in the IoT industry, Wang said.
The government in September last year launched the project, which is aimed at turning Taiwan into a tech hub in the Asia Pacific region.
The executive center of the program is in Taoyuan.
The US dollar was trading at NT$29.7 at 10am today on the Taipei Foreign Exchange, as the New Taiwan dollar gained NT$1.364 from the previous close last week. The NT dollar continued to rise today, after surging 3.07 percent on Friday. After opening at NT$30.91, the NT dollar gained more than NT$1 in just 15 minutes, briefly passing the NT$30 mark. Before the US Department of the Treasury's semi-annual currency report came out, expectations that the NT dollar would keep rising were already building. The NT dollar on Friday closed at NT$31.064, up by NT$0.953 — a 3.07 percent single-day gain. Today,
‘SHORT TERM’: The local currency would likely remain strong in the near term, driven by anticipated US trade pressure, capital inflows and expectations of a US Fed rate cut The US dollar is expected to fall below NT$30 in the near term, as traders anticipate increased pressure from Washington for Taiwan to allow the New Taiwan dollar to appreciate, Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) chief economist Lin Chi-chao (林啟超) said. Following a sharp drop in the greenback against the NT dollar on Friday, Lin told the Central News Agency that the local currency is likely to remain strong in the short term, driven in part by market psychology surrounding anticipated US policy pressure. On Friday, the US dollar fell NT$0.953, or 3.07 percent, closing at NT$31.064 — its lowest level since Jan.
The New Taiwan dollar and Taiwanese stocks surged on signs that trade tensions between the world’s top two economies might start easing and as US tech earnings boosted the outlook of the nation’s semiconductor exports. The NT dollar strengthened as much as 3.8 percent versus the US dollar to 30.815, the biggest intraday gain since January 2011, closing at NT$31.064. The benchmark TAIEX jumped 2.73 percent to outperform the region’s equity gauges. Outlook for global trade improved after China said it is assessing possible trade talks with the US, providing a boost for the nation’s currency and shares. As the NT dollar
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday met with some of the nation’s largest insurance companies as a skyrocketing New Taiwan dollar piles pressure on their hundreds of billions of dollars in US bond investments. The commission has asked some life insurance firms, among the biggest Asian holders of US debt, to discuss how the rapidly strengthening NT dollar has impacted their operations, people familiar with the matter said. The meeting took place as the NT dollar jumped as much as 5 percent yesterday, its biggest intraday gain in more than three decades. The local currency surged as exporters rushed to
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