Taiwanese backlight module maker Darwin Precisions Corp (達運精密) has pledged to invest NT$1 billion (US$33.79 million) to expand its production capacity in Taiwan as part of the government’s Invest in Taiwan initiative, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
Darwin’s primary products are backlight modules, panel modules used in LCD TVs and precision components. The firm’s customers include AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), Sony Corp, Samsung Electronics Co and LG Electronics Co.
The company plans to set up automated production at its three existing facilities in Taichung and Hsinchu, while expanding production scale and developing high value-added products, such as active-matrix organic light emitting diode (AMOLED) displays, the ministry said.
The investment is expected to create 142 jobs, it added.
Increasing trade tensions between China and the US and post COVID-19 uncertainty have drawn more companies to look to Taiwan as a place to invest, said Ho Kun-sung (何坤松), chief operating officer and spokesman for the ministry’s InvesTaiwan Service Center.
Qualified companies receive help with bank loans, as well as assistance with finding the right site or suitable talent if needed, Ho said.
Darwin chief financial officer and spokesman Cathay Ching (荊國泰) said the government assistance played a minor role in the company’s latest investment decision.
“It is a supplement, but we have a lot of other considerations for expanding our production in Taiwan,” Ching told the Taipei Times.
Darwin said that its operations in Taiwan account for less than 20 percent of its total revenue, with the majority coming from China.
Aside from seeking to stabilize supply and reduce risks amid China-US trade tensions, Darwin aims to keep “sensitive” production in Taiwan, Ching said, citing the company’s desire to keep proprietary technologies at home.
“There are some technologies and resources, such as our fine-metal-mask production, that we will always keep in Taiwan,” he said.
“You can say we are coming back to Taiwan, but really we never left,” Ching said.
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