MediaTek Inc (聯發科) yesterday said it would press ahead with a NT$200 billion (US$6.6 billion) research and development investment in Taiwan over five years to take advantage of the strong pool of talent at home.
The remarks reinforce the world’s No. 4 fabless chip supplier’s confidence about Premier William Lai’s (賴清德) determination to improve the nation’s investment environment by clearing major hurdles for manufacturers.
“We are heavily accelerating our research and development investments. A big portion of the amount will be spent in Taiwan,” MediaTek chairman Tsai Ming-kai (蔡明介) told reporters. “If the tax [on retained earnings] can be halved as Lai has said, we will have more leeway to increase our research and development spending.”
Lai yesterday said the government plans to cut the tax on retained earnings for local enterprises from 10 percent to 5 percent, as part of tax reform efforts to encourage private investment and to create a fairer tax system.
As part of the five-year investment plan unveiled in June last year, MediaTek plans to allocate NT$200 billion to develop a wide range of technologies, including the Internet of Things, 5G communications, augmented reality, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, Industry 4.0 and autonomous vehicles.
MediaTek will continue to push this plan as it explores new areas for growth, due to existing markets becoming saturated, Tsai said.
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