The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) is working on a plan to establish a new industrial park in the southern city of Kaohsiung by the middle of next year to encourage the relocation of high-tech industries and create around 2,700 jobs, economics officials said yesterday.
The officials at the Export Processing Zone Administration confirmed that the ministry would submit the plan to the Cabinet in March for approval.
The 8.48-hectare tract of land for the proposed park is a former Veterans Plastics Work factory site, which is opposite the Nantze Export Processing Zone in Kaohsiung’s Nantze district.
The project would cost about NT$1.8 billion (US$32.58 million), and when it is completed in the middle of next year, high-tech and other industrial companies interested in setting up shop in the park would be able to choose plots to set up their own plants, the officials said.
The officials estimate that the industrial park will have the capacity to attract NT$10 billion in total investment, with an annual business turnover of NT$15 billion.
Meanwhile, Taiwan plans to cut the number of foreign laborers it allows local construction and manufacturing firms to hire in a bid to create jobs for locals amid the economic downturn, a newspaper reported yesterday.
The MOEA has proposed barring major public projects from employing foreign workers, the United Daily News reported yesterday.
It also proposed offering subsidies to manufacturers that employ Taiwanese workers.
The paper quoted Minister without Portfolio Tsai Tsun-hsiung (蔡勳雄) as saying 33,000 jobs could be released for Taiwanese under the plan.
Taiwan currently employs about 370,000 foreign laborers.
Tsai said the proposal would be submitted to the Cabinet for approval later this month.
Taiwan’s unemployment rate soared to a four-year high of 4.64 percent in November.
But critics question if Taiwanese are willing to take up blue-collar jobs, noting that many employers provide harsh working conditions and assign heavy workloads to foreign laborers.
Tsai said there were no plans to replace the 170,000 foreigners who work as caretakers at homes and hospitals.
TECH PARTNERSHIP: The deal with Arizona-based Amkor would provide TSMC with advanced packing and test capacities, a requirement to serve US customers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is collaborating with Amkor Technology Inc to provide local advanced packaging and test capacities in Arizona to address customer requirements for geographical flexibility in chip manufacturing. As part of the agreement, TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, would contract turnkey advanced packaging and test services from Amkor at their planned facility in Peoria, Arizona, a joint statement released yesterday said. TSMC would leverage these services to support its customers, particularly those using TSMC’s advanced wafer fabrication facilities in Phoenix, Arizona, it said. The companies would jointly define the specific packaging technologies, such as TSMC’s Integrated
China’s economic planning agency yesterday outlined details of measures aimed at boosting the economy, but refrained from major spending initiatives. The piecemeal nature of the plans announced yesterday appeared to disappoint investors who were hoping for bolder moves, and the Shanghai Composite Index gave up a 10 percent initial gain as markets reopened after a weeklong holiday to end 4.59 percent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dived 9.41 percent. Chinese National Development and Reform Commission Chairman Zheng Shanjie (鄭珊潔) said the government would frontload 100 billion yuan (US$14.2 billion) in spending from the government’s budget for next year in addition
Sales RecORD: Hon Hai’s consolidated sales rose by about 20 percent last quarter, while Largan, another Apple supplier, saw quarterly sales increase by 17 percent IPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) on Saturday reported its highest-ever quarterly sales for the third quarter on the back of solid global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) globally, said it posted NT$1.85 trillion (US$57.93 billion) in consolidated sales in the July-to-September quarter, up 19.46 percent from the previous quarter and up 20.15 percent from a year earlier. The figure beat the previous third-quarter high of NT$1.74 trillion recorded in 2022, company data showed. Due to rising demand for AI, Hon Hai said its cloud and networking division enjoyed strong sales
Protectionism: US trade chief Katherine Tai said the hikes would help to counter unfair trade practices from China, while boosting domestic clean energy investments US Trade Representative Katherine Tai (戴琪) defended stiff tariff hikes against countries such as China, saying that paired with investment, they were a “legitimate and constructive” tool for reinvigorating domestic industries. Tai’s comments come a week after sharp tariff increases on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs), EV batteries and solar cells took effect — with levies down the line on other products also recently finalized. The latest moves targeting US$18 billion in Chinese goods come weeks before next month’s US presidential election, with Democrats and Republicans pushing a hard line on China as competition between Washington and Beijing intensifies. In an interview on Thursday