The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a “Southern Silicon Valley” project to promote the development of an artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductor industry in Chiayi County, Tainan, Pingtung County and Kaohsiung.
The plan would build an integrated “S-shaped semiconductor industry corridor” that links technology centers and science parks in the south, Executive Yuan spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said yesterday after a Cabinet meeting.
The project would bolster the AI, semiconductor, biotech, drone, space and smart agriculture industries, she said.
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
The proposed tech corridor would be supported by government efforts to furnish computing power, workforce, supply chains and policy measures that encourage application and integration of AI in Taiwanese industries, Lee said.
The southern technology center being established in Tainan’s Shalun Township (沙崙) is to provide an AI-fluent workforce and services such as cybersecurity to Taiwanese small and medium-sized enterprises, she said.
The government is to join forces with the private sector to obtain the computing power, data storage, and research-and-development capabilities necessary for growing an AI sector, Lee said.
Officials are to work across ministerial lines to build infrastructure in the south, as the planned tech region would increase regional demand for electricity, water, transportation, housing, education and medical care, among other resources, she said.
Adjustment to the water distribution system, water recycling facilities, new power plants and upgraded electrical substations were among the measures officials discussed during the session, she said.
The government is to build new schools and enlarge existing ones to accommodate the education needs of tech workers’ families, recruit talent abroad, improve English-language proficiency and ease the certification of foreign school degrees, she said.
Six new large-sized hospitals should also be built in the south to improve access to healthcare, Lee said, adding that 54 large hospitals were operating in the region.
The tech initiative is part of Premier Cho Jung-tai’s (卓榮泰) larger economic plan to develop six regional economies, including the Taipei-New Taipei City-Keelung metropolitan region, Taoyuan-Hsinchu-Miaoli and Chiayi-Tainan-Pingtung-Kaohsiung tech regions.
The Taichung-Changhua-Nantou-Yunlin region would focus on precision manufacturing, while the Yilan-Hualien-Taitung-Pingtung and Kinmen-Lienchiang-Penghu regions would focus on standard of living, tourism and culture.
The successful implementation of the economic plan is key to achieving the government’s goal of an economically balanced, resilient and healthy Taiwan, Cho was cited as saying.
Improved linkage between regional dams and building water recycling plants would help southern efforts to develop a tech industry, National Science and Technology Council Vice Minister Su Chen-kang (蘇振綱) said.
The government does not anticipate electricity supply problems, as improvements in renewables, grid efficiency and energy savings should suffice, he said.
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