Air Liquide Far Eastern Ltd (ALFE, 亞東工業氣體) is to invest NT$4 billion (US$138.84 million) to build a production facility at Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區), the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
ALFE yesterday held a groundbreaking ceremony for the facility, which would produce highly pure industrial gasses for high-tech businesses at the park.
Founded in 1987 as a joint venture between France’s Air Liquide SA and Far Eastern New Century Group (遠東新世紀集團), ALFE is making the largest investment by a French manufacturer in Taiwan, the ministry said.
Air Liquide operates across 80 countries, and has centers in Hsinchu, Kaohsiung, Taichung, Tainan, Taipei and Taoyuan to supply pure gasses and advanced materials to the electronics industry.
ALFE president Olivier Blachier said at the ceremony that the company provides a “total solution” for industrial and medical clients.
The new facility is part of the government’s “Invest in Taiwan” initiative, which provides assistance and favorable loan terms for qualifying projects.
“The goal of the InvesTaiwan Service Center is to accelerate the timeline of Taiwanese investments,” the ministry said in a statement. “By continuing to attract foreign investment and accelerating the research and development of semiconductor production, we ensure Taiwan’s semiconductor industry maintains a global advantage.”
The center also said that Chenghai Metallurgy Corp (承化實業) would invest NT$400 million to build smart factories in Miaoli County’s (苗栗) Toufen Township (頭份).
Chenghai Metallurgy has been “perfecting powder metallurgy processes for more than 30 years,” the ministry said.
Chenghai counts Honda Motor Co, Intai Technology Corp (鐿鈦科技) and Taiwan Fu Hsing Industry Co (台灣福興工業) among its clients, and is the only powder metallurgy company in Taiwan that has production facilities on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and in Southeast Asia, it said.
So far 725 companies have participated in the initiative, accounting for more than NT$1.1 trillion in investment and creating 95,819 jobs in Taiwan, the ministry said, adding that 53 projects are awaiting assessment for participation.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”