The production value of Taiwan’s integrated circuit (IC) sector is expected to grow 3.5 percent this year and serve as a driver of industrial development, Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of this year’s SEMICON Taiwan, the nation’s largest IC trade show, Kung said the output of the Taiwanese semiconductor industry is expected to hit NT$2.54 trillion (US$84.5 billion) this year, up 3.5 percent from the NT$2.45 billion recorded last year.
Kung said that the growth of the IC sector shows its strength after years of stable development, which has boosted Taiwanese semiconductor firms’ global competitiveness and improved their efficiency.
Kung praised efforts to develop the semiconductor industry, which has established a strong foothold — from IC design to contract chip production, to IC packaging and testing services — to and taken the lead in the global market.
Taiwan is home to many IC heavyweights, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, and Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (日月光半導體), the world’s largest IC packaging and testing service provider.
“Taiwan’s IC sector, which has laid a solid foundation for local industrial development, is expected to support the next-generation industries,” Kung said, referring to the government’s “five plus two” industrial innovation program.
The “five plus two” industries refer to seven key innovative industrial development projects that the government has proposed to transform national economic and industrial structures.
Among them are a project to turn Taiwan into an “Asian Silicon Valley,” along with projects in biotechnology, renewable energy, “smart” machinery, national defense and agriculture.
Kung said that the industries’ development would rely on a strong IC industry, so the government is determined to fully support the semiconductor sector to benefit industrial development.
About 700 local and international exhibitors, distributed over 1,700 booths, are showcasing their products and solutions at SEMICON Taiwan, which runs through tomorrow at Taipei’s Nangang Exhibition Center and is expected to attract more than 43,000 visitors this year, organizer SEMI Taiwan said.
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