Efforts must be made to better secure Taiwan’s place in the global supply chain by localizing production of equipment and facilities used by the semiconductor industry, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday.
Tsai discussed the issue during a meeting with representatives from the Taiwan Electronic Equipment Industry Association at the Presidential Office in Taipei.
Product shortages throughout the COVID-19 pandemic — particularly of automotive chips — highlighted the pivotal role of Taiwan in the global supply chain, she said.
Photo: CNA
Tsai thanked the association for cooperating with the government on the shared goal of localizing production of important semiconductor industry equipment.
Many Taiwanese manufacturers of such equipment are small and medium enterprises, which often encounter resource shortages, she said, adding that the government would provide manufacturers with resource assistance and encourage more businesses to manufacture the needed equipment.
Taiwan’s semiconductor industry output in 2020 was valued at NT$90.7 billion (US$3.29 billion), which last year grew 28.7 percent to NT$116.7 billion, she said.
It was the product of a collaboration between the association, businesses and the government, she said.
The domestic chip industry last year invested NT$1 trillion in semiconductor fabs, with chip manufacturing equipment accounting for 70 percent of the costs, she said.
The majority of that equipment — or about NT$600 billion of the investment — were purchased from overseas, she said.
“That shows there is a large area for growth in the domestic industry. We must improve efforts to make that equipment locally,” she said.
“The association has also been pushing for Taiwanese companies to make manufacturing equipment for the international market, and there has been important progress in that area,” she added.
Citing an example, Tsai said that Taiwanese companies have signed memorandums of understanding with businesses in Japan’s Oita and Kumamoto prefectures.
Tsai said that she hoped Taiwan could become an advanced semiconductor manufacturing center.
Among key strategies are to push for local manufacturing of commercial equipment and advanced packaging equipment, she said.
“It is our hope that through continued cooperation between government and industry, we can make Taiwan’s electronic equipment industry more internationally competitive,” she said.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
RSS