MediaTek Inc (聯發科), the largest IC designer in Taiwan, is planning to invest £10 million (US$12.61 million) in the UK over the next five years, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s office said on Sunday.
On the eve of the opening of yesterday’s Global Investment Summit in London, the office announced that the Taiwanese company would invest in several British start-ups.
The UK has more than 140 “unicorn” enterprises — privately owned start-ups valued at more than US$1 billion each — which account for about one-third of the total number in Europe and more than the combined number in Germany, France and Sweden.
Photo: CNA
So far, the UK has attracted US$2.7 trillion in foreign direct investments (FDIs), the third highest in the world, British data showed.
MediaTek runs two offices in the UK that specialize in research and development: one in Cambridge, England, and the other in Kent, England.
The company’s recent investments in the UK include a joint project with Bullitt Group Ltd to develop the world’s first two-way satellite communications technology for use in smartphones and other devices.
MediaTek has also partnered with Inmarsat PLC in the UK to provide satellite communications services to customers.
Sunak on Sunday announced £29.5 billion of private-sector investments in the UK, before hosting global executives in his bid to restore the state as Europe’s top FDI destination.
Australian funds IFM Investors Pty Ltd and Aware Super Pty Ltd are to invest £10 billion and £5 billion respectively into projects ranging from infrastructure and energy transition to affordable housing, No. 10 Downing Street said in a statement.
Spanish power giant Iberdrola SA is to add £7 billion to its investment plans in Britain, which include transmission and distribution electricity networks, it said.
Other projects listed in the statement include a £2.5 billion investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure by Microsoft Corp.
“Attracting global investment is at the heart of my plan for growing the economy,” Sunak said in the statement.
New funding for industries such as clean energy, life sciences and advanced technology would create high-quality jobs across Britain, Sunak said.
Top financiers Stephen Schwarzman from Blackstone Inc, David Solomon from Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Jamie Dimon from JPMorgan Chase & Co were due to attend the investment summit at the 16th-century Hampton Court Palace.
France last year overtook Britain as the European country with the highest number of new FDI projects.
At a similar FDI gathering in May, French President Emmanuel Macron announced 13 billion euros (US$14.23 billion) of investment commitments in his country.
PATENTS: MediaTek Inc said it would not comment on ongoing legal cases, but does not expect the legal action by Huawei to affect its business operations Smartphone integrated chips designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) on Friday said that a lawsuit filed by Chinese smartphone brand Huawei Technologies Co (華為) over alleged patent infringements would have little impact on its operations. In an announcement posted on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, MediaTek said that it would not comment on an ongoing legal case. However, the company said that Huawei’s legal action would have little impact on its operations. MediaTek’s statement came after China-based PRIP Research said on Thursday that Huawei filed a lawsuit with a Chinese district court claiming that MediaTek infringed on its patents. The infringement mentioned in the lawsuit likely involved
Taipei is today suspending work, classes and its US$2.4 trillion stock market as Typhoon Gaemi approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Authorities had yesterday issued a warning that the storm could affect people on land and canceled some ship crossings and domestic flights. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) expects its local chipmaking fabs to maintain normal production, the company said in an e-mailed statement. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp said it has activated routine typhoon alert
GROWTH: TSMC increased its projected revenue growth for this year to more than 25 percent, citing stronger-than-expected demand for AI devices and smartphones The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) yesterday raised its forecast for Taiwan’s GDP growth this year from 3.29 percent to 3.85 percent, as exports and private investment recovered faster than it predicted three months ago. The Taipei-based think tank also expects that Taiwan would see a 8.19 percent increase in exports this year, better than the 7.55 percent it projected in April, as US technology giants spent more money on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and development. “There will be more AI servers going forward, but it remains to be seen if the momentum would extend to personal computers, smartphones and
Catastrophic computer outages caused by a software update from one company have once again exposed the dangers of global technological dependence on a handful of players, experts said on Friday. A flawed update sent out by the little-known security firm CrowdStrike Holdings Inc brought airlines, TV stations and myriad other aspects of daily life to a standstill. The outages affected companies or individuals that use CrowdStrike on the Microsoft Inc’s Windows platform. When they applied the update, the incompatible software crashed computers into a frozen state known as the “blue screen of death.” “Today CrowdStrike has become a household name, but not in