Minister Without Portfolio Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) yesterday unveiled a plan to turn Taiwan into Asia’s research, development and manufacturing hub for high-end products on the back of a successful program to boost investment amid the US-China trade dispute.
Since January, when the government unveiled the first program to encourage Taiwanese companies operating in China to invest back home, local firms have pledged NT$700 billion (US$22.94 billion), with NT$225.5 billion expected to be realized this year, Kung told a news conference at the Executive Yuan.
Thanks to this newfound investment momentum and local firms bringing back production of higher-end products — including servers, laptops and bicycles — President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has put forward a plan to make the nation a high-end research, development and manufacturing hub, he said.
Photo: CNA
To realize the plan, the government is identifying underused or unused land in industrial zones, particularly those in central and southern Taiwan, where returning companies could operate, he added.
The government expects to free up at least 600 hectares of land in industrial zones nationwide for use by returning firms, he said, adding that part of the space would come from the planned Ciaotou Science Park (橋頭科學園區) in Kaohsiung and the third-phase expansion of Tainan’s Southern Taiwan Science Park (南部科學工業園區).
As manufacturing practices used by Taiwanese companies in China are unlikely to apply to Taiwan, the government expects to use artificial intelligence and smart machinery from its “five plus two” innovative industries plan on new production lines, he said, adding that this would facilitate a total solution, rather than the nation just being a manufacturing hub of components.
The government has drafted a “corporate innovation refinement program” and aims to engage in forward-looking collaborations with local and foreign companies ready to make a sizeable investment or create a substantial number of job opportunities in Taiwan, Kung said.
The government is willing to subsidize these collaborations, he added.
The international trend is toward sustainability, so nations that do not power their production lines with renewable energy might see their goods boycotted by nations that have provisions on dealing only with environmentally friendly businesses, which would negatively affect exports and competitiveness, he said.
Taiwan needs to establish green supply chains and realize its goal of making renewables 20 percent of its energy mix by 2025, he said.
As of Thursday, investments by small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) had reached NT$32.9 billion, far exceeding the government’s estimate of NT$20 billion, so the Cabinet plans to increase subsidies to SMEs by more than doubling the government’s SME development fund, which is currently NT$20 billion, Kung said.
From 2000 to 2008, when Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was the president, foreign investment averaged US$7 billion annually, before slumping to US$5.3 billion during Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) presidency and then rebounding to US$10 billion in 2016, and remaining at about that level since then, Kung said.
By contrast, investment in China by Taiwanese companies has fallen from an annual average of at least US$10 billion to about US$3 billion so far this year, a difference of more than US$7 billion, he added.
The trend of local companies redirecting investments from China to Taiwan matches the expected NT$255.2 billion to be repatriated by firms this year, Kung added.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
PLANNED: The suspect visited the crime scene before the killings, seeking information on how to access the roof, and had extensively researched a 2014 stabbing incident The suspect in a stabbing attack that killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei on Friday had planned the assault and set fires at other locations earlier in the day, law enforcement officials said yesterday. National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Chang Jung-hsin (張榮興) said the suspect, a 27-year-old man named Chang Wen (張文), began the attacks at 3:40pm, first setting off smoke bombs on a road, damaging cars and motorbikes. Earlier, Chang Wen set fire to a rental room where he was staying on Gongyuan Road in Zhongzheng District (中正), Chang Jung-hsin said. The suspect later threw smoke grenades near two exits
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
RSS