Anticipating challenges that lie ahead for the IC design industry, a senior researcher at the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI, 工研院) yesterday said that international companies that want to invest in the sector should be welcomed.
The IC design industry should not be limited to design, but also try to be more flexible with its operations, ITRI Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center director-general Stephen Su (蘇孟宗) said.
He suggested that the sector extend its reach into the fields of IC applications and integrated services, such as the Internet of Things and Industry 4.0.
The sector should welcome international investment, including funds from China, Su said, adding that local IC designers could find markets for their products through drawing foreign investment.
However, businesses should safeguard themselves from malicious mergers or talent poaching, and invite foreign investors, Su said.
Using Finland as an example, Su said that international investment helped create many innovative enterprises in that nation and kept local talent at home.
The issue of whether to open Taiwan’s doors to Chinese investment in the IC design sector — one of the key industries that supports the nation’s economy — has been widely debated after Minister of Economic Affairs John Deng (鄧振中) last month said he would push for the relaxation of limits on Chinese investors before he steps down next year, raising both national competitiveness and security concerns.
Businesses in the sector have said a decision to accept Chinese investment should be left up to the stockholders of companies attracting Chinese investors, as long as there is no threat to national security.
That foreign investors own most of a company’s shares does not necessarily mean they can control the firm, the businesses said.
In many cases, foreign investors hold a more than 50 percent stake in a company, but it continues to be run by its own management team, they said.
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