More than five Taiwanese companies with overseas operations have submitted applications to lease land in the Central Taiwan Science Park (中部科學園區) to move production lines back home in an effort to fend off downside risks from a US-China trade war, the Central Taiwan Science Park Administration said yesterday.
More than 40 companies attended a forum arranged by the agency to address tax incentives and new tax rules, indicating that a growing number of local manufacturers are showing strong interest in making homebound investments amid uncertainty over US-China trade tensions.
The agency declined to disclose names of the companies seeking homebound investments, but said that the nation’s major smart machinery makers and bicycle parts suppliers are on the list.
“We are taking proactive measures to squeeze out more land to cope with new land requests,” Central Taiwan Science Park Director-General Chen Ming-huang (陳銘煌) told reporters.
The agency said it plans to offer land in a newly developed campus in Changhua County’s Erlin Township (二林), as most areas of the park are at capacity.
The 631-hectare campus has attracted 20 businesses — including Global Tek Fabrication Co (時碩) and China Fineblanking Technology Co (和勤精機) — which are ready to outlay a total of NT$60 billion (US$1.94 billion), it said.
“The Erlin campus will be a good option for Taiwanese companies with homebound investment intentions,” Chen said.
However, potential investors prefer leasing land in Taichung’s Houli District (后里), which is closer to the heart of the Central Taiwan Science Park and Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區) in the north, he said.
Houli District is fully occupied and only one plot of land leased to panelmaker AU Optronics Corp (AUO, 友達光電) is idle, the agency said, adding that it is in talks with AUO to release the land if it has no expansion plans.
Another possible availability would be from solar company Xantia Corp (桑緹亞), which earlier this year filed for bankruptcy protection and is to hold a new round of bankruptcy auctions to sell factories on a 4.2-hectare plot of land in the district, it said.
More than 60 companies are working on return plans with various government agencies, including about 25 that are being helped by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the ministry said last week.
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