The New Taipei City Government yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding with Amazon Web Services (AWS) — a cloud-computing subsidiary of Amazon.com Inc — to establish a joint innovation center in the city.
The center is to be set up in Far Eastern Group’s (遠東集團) Taipei Far Eastern Telecom Park (台北遠東通訊園區) in Banciao District (板橋), where New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) and Alex Yung (容永康), AWS corporate vice president and managing director for the greater China region, signed the agreement.
Over the past year and a half, the New Taipei City Government has held more than 10 meetings with AWS to resolve all the issues around the company setting up the joint innovation center, Chu said.
Photo: Chen Hsin-yu, Taipei Times
This is a very important investment for the nation’s next generation of industries, he added.
AWS’ most important investment is not financial capital, but rather intellectual capital, Chu said, adding that this would allow Taiwan and New Taipei City to connect with the rest of the world.
The center is to provide training and technical assistance to small and medium-sized enterprises in the nation and help schools cultivate talent, he said.
It is to support at least 15 start-ups each year, Chu said, adding that the potential for upgrades to the nation’s start-ups or small and medium-sized enterprises is limitless.
AWS is not bringing hundreds of millions or tens of billions of New Taiwan dollars of investment in production lines, but rather it is bringing something much more valuable — intelligence, said Far Eastern Group chairman Douglas Hsu (徐旭東), who also attended the signing ceremony.
Moreover, AWS has connections in more than 190 nations worldwide, which would assist enterprises in connecting with the world, he said.
Discussions about cooperation with National Taiwan University and Tunghai University are already under way, FCC Partners (Taipei) Inc (藍濤亞洲集團) chairman Huang Chi-yuan (黃齊元) said.
AWS has not invested funds, but FCC Partners has been authorized to operate and integrate resources for the company to incubate start-ups and cooperate with universities, he said.
What must be valued is intellectual capital, which is something that Taiwan needs to learn when trying to attract businesses, he added.
AWS has set up similar centers in China’s Shanghai, Chongqing and Qingdao, and has also established a foothold in South Korea, Chu said.
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