Investments pledged for Taiwan grew about 25 percent this year, showing that the government’s efforts to attract investments from foreign and local firms have paid off, Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said on Wednesday.
A total NT$2.24 trillion (US$72.72 billion) in investments were pledged between Jan. 1 and Tuesday, up from NT$1.79 trillion last year, Kung said, citing Ministry of Economic Affairs data.
The amount comes from 227 projects, each valued at more than NT$500 million, the ministry said.
Investments pledged by foreign investors totaled NT$504.90 billion, up 23.29 percent, while locally pledged investments grew 25.5 percent to NT$1.73 trillion, the data showed.
Investment growth picked up this year, Kung said, adding that he expects the trend to continue next year.
Investors paid close attention to the semiconductor sector after the government launched the “five plus two” innovative industries plan to establish Taiwan as an “Asian Silicon Valley,” Kung said.
Investors have gone beyond IC design, manufacturing, packaging and testing, to enter IC production equipment and upstream IC raw materials development, he said.
Investments in the semiconductor industry included a production equipment manufacturing center built by US-based Applied Materials Inc in the Southern Taiwan Science Park (南部科學園區) and US Air Products and Chemicals Inc’s industrial gas production site in the Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區), the data showed.
In addition, Taiwanese memorychip maker Winbond Electronics Corp (華邦電) is investing NT$335 billion to expand its production capacity in southern Taiwan, the data showed.
The “five plus two” industries refer to seven development projects proposed by the government to transform the Taiwan’s economic and industrial structure.
In addition to the Asian Silicon Valley project, the program also refers to biotech-related projects, green energy, smart machinery, the defense industry, innovative agriculture and the circular economy.
Kung said he expects investments in green energy to grow next year as a government push for renewable energy development continues, while tech giants such as Microsoft Corp and Google are expected to pledge investments in Taiwan to establish artificial intelligence and training centers.
The ministry has asked its overseas offices to focus on finding new investments, he added.
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
RSS