A government plan to transform Taoyuan, Hsinchu and Miaoli into an integrated zone for the technology industry would lead the charge to equalize economic development in the nation’s administrative regions, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said on Friday last week during a tour of the site designated for the Southern Taiwan Science Park’s Miaoli branch.
Cho received a briefing on the construction and inspected a water purification facility near a dam in the county.
The government is working to secure the water, energy and infrastructure key to the technology project’s success, he said.
Photo: CNA
Measures to ensure sufficient water supply would focus on creating new sources, waste reduction, flexible distribution and deep reserves, he added.
The Cabinet is planning a second transformation of the nation’s energy structure via continued investment in renewables, including wind, hydraulic, geothermal and hydrogen, while exploring energy saving and storage technologies, Cho said.
Power grid resilience must also be increased, he said.
The project, the “Taoyuan-Hsinchu-Miaoli Great Silicon Valley Plan,” is integral to, if not the pilot of, President William Lai’s (賴清德) vision for a healthy, regionally balanced economy, Cho said.
The Silicon Valley plan’s rapid progress has set a standard for all other regional economic development projects, he added.
The government would fund the construction of a new freeway interchange to help the county deal with congestion stemming from the technology industry, Cho said in response to Miaoli County Commissioner Chung Tung-chin’s (鍾東錦) request for help.
An experimental high school would also be established for the benefit of the children of the technology park’s employees, he said.
Cho asked National Science and Technology Council Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) to appoint a deputy minister to liaise between the central and local governments to handle matters that require cooperation.
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