The Executive Yuan is expected to increase the budget for technology-related spending for fiscal 2019 to NT$120 billion (US$3.9 billion), of which NT$1 billion would be dedicated to the cultivation of young researchers to encourage them to stay in Taiwan, sources said.
This year’s budget was NT$115.1 billion, including the items in the government’s Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program.
The Executive Yuan next year plans to allocate NT$97.6 billion for technological development and NT$18.7 billion for technological projects listed in the program, the sources said.
Of the former, 20 percent would be allocated to projects related to biomedicine and 17 percent would be earmarked for those related to the digital economy, sources added.
Premier William Lai (賴清德) is expected to preside over cross-agency budget meetings today to finalize budget ceilings for all government agencies.
Many outstanding researchers and academics in Taiwan have been recruited by foreign universities, Executive Yuan Office of Science and Technology Executive Secretary Tsai Zse-hong (蔡志宏) said.
More researchers would possibly leave for other countries if the nation fails to offer them a stable environment to conduct research, he added.
Technology-related projects in the program would focus on the construction of green energy facilities and digital infrastructure as well as talent cultivation, the sources said.
To offer young talent a stable and resourceful research environment, the government would allocate more research funding to them, they added.
The Ministry of Science and Technology’s artificial intelligence (AI) innovative research center would receive a second-phase budget of NT$1.5 billion, while the budget of its third-phase space program has yet to be determined, the sources said.
Regarding the nation’s key technological projects next year, the Executive Yuan would continue promoting the “five plus two” innovative industries of the “Asian Silicon Valley” development plan: smart machinery, green energy, biomedicine, national defense and aerospace, new agriculture and a circular economy, an official said on condition of anonymity.
Digital economy, innovative cultural technology, chip design and semiconductor-related technologies are also among the nation’s key development projects, the official said, adding that the Cabinet would also promote AI and biomedical technologies to boost the competitiveness of the nation’s technological industry.
RESILIENCE: Deepening bilateral cooperation would extend the peace sustained over the 45 years since the Taiwan Relations Act, Greene said Taiwan-US relations are built on deep economic ties and shared values, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday, adding that strengthening supply chain security in critical industries, enhancing societal resilience through cooperation and deepening partnerships are key to ensuring peace and stability for Taiwan in the years ahead. Greene made the remarks at the National Security Youth Forum, organized by National Taiwan University’s National Security and Strategy Studies Institution in Taipei. In his address in Mandarin Chinese, Greene said the Taiwan-US relationship is built on deep economic ties and shared interests, and grows stronger through the enduring friendship between
GAINING STEAM: The scheme initially failed to gather much attention, with only 188 cards issued in its first year, but gained popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic Applications for the Employment Gold Card have increased in the past few years, with the card having been issued to a total of 13,191 people from 101 countries since its introduction in 2018, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Those who have received the card have included celebrities, such as former NBA star Dwight Howard and Australian-South Korean cheerleader Dahye Lee, the NDC said. The four-in-one Employment Gold Card combines a work permit, resident visa, Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) and re-entry permit. It was first introduced in February 2018 through the Act Governing Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及雇用法),
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said that it would redesign the written portion of the driver’s license exam to make it more rigorous. “We hope that the exam can assess drivers’ understanding of traffic rules, particularly those who take the driver’s license test for the first time. In the past, drivers only needed to cram a book of test questions to pass the written exam,” Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told a news conference at the Taoyuan Motor Vehicle Office. “In the future, they would not be able to pass the test unless they study traffic regulations
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
RSS