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Survey shows exports from science park decline 15%

Exports of the Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park (新竹科學園區) totaled NT$141.6 billion (US$4.1 billion) in the first five months of this year, down 15.15 percent from the same period last year, administration officials at the park reported yesterday.

According to statistics compiled by park administration, only the firms in the biotech and telecommunications industries posted growth in export volume, while computer peripherals makers registered the largest decrease of 30.02 percent and the IC industry saw a fall of 5.9 percent.

Meanwhile, according to the results of a recent survey by park administration, about 68 percent of the executives of park-based firms are "most unsatisfied" with the traffic situation inside the compound.

According to the survey, land acquisition, the living environment and electricity supplies are the problems next in line behind traffic that worry the executives, with 51.4 percent saying they are dissatisfied with land and plant acquisitions, 40.4 percent expressing dissatisfaction with a lack of dormitories and 31.2 percent saying that electricity supplies are insufficient.

The executives surveyed suggested that park authorities adopt a "one-stop service counter" to make the process of dealing with factory plants and land allocations more transparent for all businesses operating there, in order to avoid wasting resources.

The poll also discovered that companies with greater investment in the park are more concerned about the government's overall technology policies amid the changing investment climate in Taiwan.

Investors who have fueled capital worth more than NT$5 billion in the park -- some 9.7 percent of the total number of firms based in the park -- said they are concerned about the course of the government's technology policies, while another 9.7 percent said they worry about whether there are sufficient public facilities and green spaces.

The business groups with investment capital between NT$500 million and NT$5 billion -- around 8.8 percent of the total -- said they are mostly concerned about water supplies, while 7.9 said government policy is their most pressing worry.

Meanwhile, the companies with an investment worth between NT$500 million and NT$50 million -- about 9.5 percent of the total -- admitted paying greater attention to matters regarding public facilities, according to the survey.

The figures represented in the poll show that most burgeoning high-tech companies set up in recent years in the compound are largely satisfied with the services provided by the government.

The park administration carried out the survey of 361 executives based in the park, recovering 112 valid samples.
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