The Ministry of Economic Affairs has approved six companies’ applications to join a three-year program aimed at boosting investment in the nation, the ministry said yesterday.
Pegatron Corp (和碩), Adlink Technology Inc (凌華科技), Rechi Precision Co (瑞智精密) and Fu sheng Industrial Co (復盛工業), along with two other unnamed companies, have been given the green light to invest more than NT$22.1 billion (US$700.54 million), which would create an estimated 1,640 job opportunities, the ministry said.
A total of 61 companies investing more than NT$310 billion and creating more than 30,100 jobs have been approved since the beginning of this year, the ministry said.
Pegatron, a major iPhone assembler for Apple Inc, is to purchase a plant in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店) to produce high value-added products, such as Internet-of-Things (IoT) sensors, the ministry said.
The company also plans to increase its production lines and add automated equipment to its two plants in Taoyuan’s Gueishan District (龜山).
Overall, the company is to invest up to NT$14.9 billion and create 1,000 job opportunities, the ministry said.
Adlink, an industrial computer peripherals supplier, plans to increase research and development (R&D) investment and establish smart production sites in Taiwan, as it seeks business opportunities in the IoT, edge computing and artificial intelligence areas.
Compressor maker Rechi is to expand the production capacity of its plant in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音) by adding smart production lines.
The company expects to create 212 job opportunities.
Industrial air compressor supplier Fu Sheng plans to establish an R&D center and smart production site in New Taipei’s Sanchong District (三重), creating 41 job opportunities.
One of the two unnamed companies is engaged in microwave communications and plans to invest in the Hsinchu Science Part (新竹科學園區), while the other one is a molding company, which has pledged to invest NT$1.4 billion in Taoyuan.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained