Investment by small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) has totaled NT$34.4 billion (US$1.13 billion) since a government program to help firms cope with the US-China trade dispute was launched in July, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday after it approved six companies’ applications for a combined investment of NT$1.5 billion.
Ua Wood Floors Inc (誌懋), a Yunlin County-based company which has provided wood flooring for prestigious buildings including the Pentagon and the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, is to invest NT$200 million setting up a stone plastic composite floor manufacturing facility in the Chiayi Machouhou Industrial Park (嘉義馬稠後產業園區) which is to create 55 job opportunities, the ministry said.
Hosiery maker Chiun Jiun Enterprise Co Ltd (群竣實業) is to invest more than NT$80 million establishing a smart production facility in Changhua County’s Hosiery Industrial Park (彰化社頭織襪產業園區), the ministry said, adding that the company would create 13 job opportunities.
Built-in Precision Machine Co (妙印精機), which specializes in professional screen printing machines for the optoelectronic and printed circuit board industries, is to invest more than NT$200 million in a smart production facility in the Taichung Wufeng Industrial Park (臺中霧峰工業區) as the company looks to expand its capacity due to increasing market demand.
The firm also plans to set up a research-and-development center focused on artificial intelligence technologies, the ministry said, adding that 28 job opportunities are expected to be created.
Buffalo Machinery Co (達佛羅), which operates the brands Microcut and Axile that ensure high energy efficiency and high productivity of machinery equipment, is to invest more than NT$400 million in Taichung’s Daya District (大雅) setting up a five-axis machine tool facility.
The company is to create 74 job opportunities, the ministry said.
Taichung-based Hong Ming Casting Co (宏名鑄造) plans to invest NT$300 million setting up a new plant and installing a high-frequency induction furnace in Miaoli County’s Sanyi Township (三義).
Hong Ming plans to install smart machinery in the plant which would create 46 job opportunities, it said.
Hand tool manufacturer Rungsee Industry Co (龍熙企業) is to invest more than NT$100 million expanding its plant in the Taichung Dali Industrial Park (臺中大里工業區) by adding smart production lines and replacing equipment, it said, adding that the company would create 10 job opportunities.
The six companies would also receive assistance in areas such as financing, taxes and securing resources, including land, water and electricity, the ministry said.
The Executive Yuan is to increase the program’s budget from NT$20 billion to NT$100 billion, it said earlier this week.
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Apple Inc has been developing a homegrown chip to run artificial intelligence (AI) tools in data centers, although it is unclear if the semiconductor would ever be deployed, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. The effort would build on Apple’s previous efforts to make in-house chips, which run in its iPhones, Macs and other devices, according to the Journal, which cited unidentified people familiar with the matter. The server project is code-named ACDC (Apple Chips in Data Center) within the company, aiming to utilize Apple’s expertise in chip design for the company’s server infrastructure, the newspaper said. While this initiative has been
GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), the world’s No. 3 silicon wafer supplier, yesterday said that revenue would rise moderately in the second half of this year, driven primarily by robust demand for advanced wafers used in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, a key component of artificial intelligence (AI) technology. “The first quarter is the lowest point of this cycle. The second half will be better than the first for the whole semiconductor industry and for GlobalWafers,” chairwoman Doris Hsu (徐秀蘭) said during an online investors’ conference. “HBM would definitely be the key growth driver in the second half,” Hsu said. “That is our big hope
The consumer price index (CPI) last month eased to 1.95 percent, below the central bank’s 2 percent target, as food and entertainment cost increases decelerated, helped by stable egg prices, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. The slowdown bucked predictions by policymakers and academics that inflationary pressures would build up following double-digit electricity rate hikes on April 1. “The latest CPI data came after the cost of eating out and rent grew moderately amid mixed international raw material prices,” DGBAS official Tsao Chih-hung (曹志弘) told a news conference in Taipei. The central bank in March raised interest rates by