The government will launch an “innovation voucher” program to encourage small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to develop new technologies and products in collaboration with research organizations, an official said yesterday.
“If all goes smoothly, the program might be put into practice after the Lunar New Year holiday at the earliest,” said Lai Shan-kuei (賴杉桂), director of the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Administration under the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
The program is patterned upon similar incentive projects adopted in the Netherlands, Singapore and the US to help SMEs adapt and upgrade to survive in an ever-more competitive global market, Lai said.
The Cabinet’s Science and Technology Development Fund has earmarked NT$30 million (US$940,000) to help finance the voucher program, he said.
In the first year, the ministry plans to help up to 90 SMEs develop innovative technology or products, with each company being given a maximum of NT$300,000 in research subsidies, he said.
The subsidies are expected to cover 50 percent of the funds needed to finance each project, with the companies raising the remaining 50 percent needed, Lai said.
SME administration deputy director Huang Wen-ku (黃文谷) said local SMEs were welcome to approach local academic, research institutions or incubation centers to work out research programs and then apply for subsidies from the ministry.
For example, he said, if a sports shoe manufacturer intends to upgrade its products, say, by adding “intelligent” shoe pads or pedometers, it could contact a technological incubation center to flesh out a cooperative research and development program and then file an application for the “innovation vouchers.”
As SMEs form the backbone of Taiwan’s economy, Huang said the government would devote more resources to helping them upgrade their competitiveness through technological innovation.
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