The three major science parks are likely to see their revenue grow to surpass NT$4 trillion (US$132.3 billion) this year, unfazed by a recession in the global technology industry, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday.
Revenue from companies with operations at the Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區), Central Taiwan Science Park (中部科學園區) and Southern Taiwan Science Park (南部科學園區) was estimated to have risen 10 percent year-on-year to a historical high of NT$4 trillion last year, Minister of Science and Technology Wu Tsung-tsong (吳政忠) said.
There is a good chance of further growth in revenue this year, due to resilient demand for high-end semiconductors, he said, adding that the chances of a recession look slim.
Photo: CNA
That goes against a downtrend affecting the world’s major technology companies, he added.
“Semiconductor supply remains the focus of the world. I believe Taiwan’s semiconductor industry has the cutting-edge technologies to meet that demand,” Wu said. “It is still too early to make a revenue forecast. It’s just February, but I think there is a good chance [to see growth].”
Micron Technology Inc has made the case.
The US memorychip maker in December last year announced a plan to cut 10 percent of its headcount this year, to suspend the distribution of bonuses and cut executive pay due to flagging demand for its chips.
Micron yesterday confirmed that it is reducing global headcount through a combination of voluntary attrition, workforce reductions and reduced external hiring.
“Micron has now started meeting with some of the employees affected by Micron’s plans to reduce its workforce in the face of the severe downturn that is affecting the entire industry,” the company said in a statement.
Micron did not say how many people it aims to lay off, but the council expects less than 10 percent of Micron’s local employees to be affected, Wu said.
The science parks have not yet received notification of large-scale layoff plans, the council said.
Micron has about 10,000 local employees.
Despite the world technology industry entering period of correction, local corporate executives have been calling for more land to be made available to build new production lines to meet customers’ requests for more diversified and resilient supply-chain management, given escalating geopolitical tensions.
The Cabinet has approved seven new expansion projects in the three science parks and allocated 693 hectares of land in Hsinchu, Taichung, Tainan, Chiayi, Kaohsiung and Pingtung, the council said.
Those new expansion plans would add NT$1.2 trillion in new revenue and create about 30,000 jobs, it said.
South Korea has adjusted its electronic arrival card system to no longer list Taiwan as a part of China, a move that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would help facilitate exchanges between the two sides. South Korea previously listed “Taiwan” as “Taiwan (China)” in the drop-down menus of its online arrival card system, where people had to fill out where they came from and their next destination. The ministry had requested South Korea make a revision and said it would change South Korea’s name on Taiwan’s online immigration system from “Republic of Korea” to “Korea (South),” should the issue not be
The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee yesterday approved proposed amendments to the Amusement Tax Act (娛樂稅法) that would abolish taxes on films, cultural activities and competitive sporting events, retaining the fee only for dance halls and golf courses. The proposed changes would set the maximum tax rate for dance halls and golf courses at 50 and 20 percent respectively, with local governments authorized to suspend the levies. Article 2 of the act says that “amusement tax shall be levied on tickets sold or fees charged by amusement places, facilities or activities” in six categories: “Cinema; professional singing, story-telling, dancing, circus, magic show, acrobatics
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
INFLATION UP? The IMF said CPI would increase to 1.5 percent this year, while the DGBAS projected it would rise to 1.68 percent, with GDP per capita of US$44,181 The IMF projected Taiwan’s real GDP would grow 5.2 percent this year, up from its 2.1 percent outlook in January, despite fears of global economic disruptions sparked by the US-Iran conflict. Taiwan’s consumer price index (CPI) is projected to increase to 1.5 percent, while unemployment would be 3.4 percent, roughly in line with estimates for Asia as a whole, the international body wrote in its Global Economic Outlook Report published in the US on Monday. The figures are comparatively better than the IMF outlook for the rest of the world, which pegged real GDP growth at 3.1 percent, down from 3.3 percent
RSS