The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday said it has received 81 applications for a subsidy program that provides government funding for factory upgrades and operational transformation, with each applicant eligible for up to NT$3 million (US$95,006).
The ministry offers subsidies to help local enterprises enhance research and development enhancement and push for business transformation based on the Special Statute on Strengthening the Resilience of the Economy, Society and National Security in Response to International Developments (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例), Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Ho Chin-tsang (何晉滄) told a news conference.
The ministry estimates the program could spur about NT$900 million in overall investment and assist about 300 companies in upgrading their facilities, Ho said.
Photo: Lin Chin-hua, Taipei Times
The so-called specific factories — also known as special-registered factories — date back to the 1960s, when many small workshops operated out of living rooms during Taiwan’s early industrialization, he said.
The factories have long faced legal constraints related to land use, environmental protection and fire safety, leaving them on the margins of formal industrial policy, he said
However, following amendments to the Factory Management and Counseling Act (工廠管理輔導法) in 2019, the government has promoted the legalization of such factories and integrated them into the formal industrial ecosystem as key targets for policy support and transformation, Ho said.
Many traditional manufacturers are accustomed to self-financing and have historically found government applications cumbersome, Taiwan Special Factory Union chairman Yeh Chen-fu (葉振福) said.
However, amid volatile global economic conditions and intensifying competition, companies that use government resources for upgrades would be better positioned to improve product quality and long-term competitiveness, Yeh said.
Zee Da Shen Machinery Co (日大興機械) in Taoyuan, which has qualified for the subsidies, said that exchange-rate fluctuations had previously cut its orders by about 20 percent, while its traditional die-changing process took two days and relied heavily on skilled welders — a major challenge amid labor shortages.
However, after adopting domestically developed smart die-changing and automated welding systems, along with machine networking technologies, the company reduced die-change time to 15 minutes, Zee Da Shen said.
The upgrade has helped it enter a European electronics supply chain, with nearly NT$8 million in additional annual output projected, the company said.
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