High-tech companies in the Tainan Science-based Industrial Park (南科) said that a government proposal to construct an international airport and a free-trade zone in nearby Chiku township would serve as an important link to global markets, an executive said yesterday.
"Most high-tech firms say that 99 percent of their orders have to arrive in the hands of overseas buyers within one day," Kao Chin-yen (高清愿), chief executive of the President Group (統一集團), said following a meeting with officials from the Council of Economic Planning and Development.
A 24-hour logistics hub, such an international airport, would enhance product delivery to international markets and is necessary to boost the competitiveness of the nation's high-tech industry, Kao said, citing other high-tech business leaders in the county.
The science park boasts several major high-tech players, including chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) and United Microelectronics Corp (聯電), and flat-panel display makers, Chi Mei Optroelectronics Corp (奇美光電) and HannStar Display Corp (瀚宇彩晶).
The council will forward the county's proposal to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications today, which is expected come up with a draft proposal on the airport by late April, said Chang Jin-sheng (
Tainan County Commissioner Su Huan-chih (
"It'll be a technically and economically feasible build-operate-transfer [BOT] project that won't have any impact on the government's budget," Su said.
Su also said that all the government needs to do is release a 1,700-hectare parcel of state-owned land which belongs to Taiwan Salt Industrial Corp (
Construction of the airport's 4,000m runway is expected to cost NT$10.5 billion.
Slated to be completed in 2008, the proposed facility would be able to transport 1.2 million passengers and 120,000 tonnes of cargo annually. If the government gives its approval, the county will then open bidding to domestic and foreign contractors, he said.
So far, the Canadian Airport Development Corporation, several other American joint ventures and the Golden Chinese Automobile Corp (
A proposal to expand Kaohsiung's international airport is not practical since the facility cannot accommodate Boeing 747s because of its short runway, Su said.
Billy Chang (
"The proposed Tainan and Taichung international airports may be competing for the same volume of international air cargo shipments," Chang said.
Pundits, however, are divided on the project.
Huang Yu-lin (
Jing Hung-sying (
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