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.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
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