Taiwan has become a leader in the global supply chain, as an increasing number of its overseas companies have been investing more funds at home, economists said on Saturday.
Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) president Chang Chien-yi (張建一) said that the government’s incentive programs for Taiwanese investors, launched last year, have attracted many top-tier Taiwanese manufacturers to return.
In their wake, second and third-tier industries have also returned, helping the nation reshape its production structure, Chang said.
Photo: CNA
“The move by these Taiwanese investors to come home has helped Taiwan assume the position of commander, or the brain, of the global supply chain,” he said. “This development is expected to boost Taiwan’s status in global trade.”
The incentive programs were launched as companies were seeking to move some of their production out of China to avoid the US’ increased tariffs on Chinese-made products during a trade dispute.
As of Friday, 473 Taiwanese companies have pledged to invest a combined NT$989.1 billion (US$33.1 billion) in the home market under the incentive programs, while 56 more are waiting for approval, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said.
Even Taiwanese companies that operate businesses in China and Southeast Asian countries have been able to use Taiwan as a hub while mapping out global expansion strategies to meet the needs of various clients, Chang said.
Earlier last week, Minister Without Portfolio Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said that NT$200 billion of the nearly NT$1 trillion in pledged returning funds had been invested last year.
Companies this year are expected to invest an additional NT$325.3 billion, which amounts to 1.7 percent of the nation’s NT$19 trillion GDP and boosting the economy, Kung said.
Taiwan’s GDP grew 1.54 percent in the first quarter of the year, outperforming many nations as the global economy was being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said.
Pledged investments are expected to reach about NT$500 billion this year, which would improve Taiwan’s status in the global supply chain, the ministry said.
Listed manufacturers’ combined sales last year fell 2.8 percent from a year earlier to NT$16.5 trillion amid the US-China trade dispute, the ministry said.
Their total net income fell 19.8 percent annually to NT$1.23 trillion, it said.
However, manufacturers’ spending on research and development (R&D) last year rose 7.9 percent to a five-year high of NT$460.8 billion, with the electronic components industry spending the most at NT$266.3 billion, followed by the computer and optoelectronics industry at NT$123.8 billion, according to ministry data.
The two industries accounted for 84.7 percent of total R&D spending in Taiwan’s manufacturing sector last year, the ministry said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said that its investment plan in Arizona is going according to schedule, following a local media report claiming that the company is planning to break ground on its third wafer fab in the US in June. In a statement, TSMC said it does not comment on market speculation, but that its investments in Arizona are proceeding well. TSMC is investing more than US$65 billion in Arizona to build three advanced wafer fabs. The first one has started production using the 4-nanometer (nm) process, while the second one would start mass production using the
When an apartment comes up for rent in Germany’s big cities, hundreds of prospective tenants often queue down the street to view it, but the acute shortage of affordable housing is getting scant attention ahead of today’s snap general election. “Housing is one of the main problems for people, but nobody talks about it, nobody takes it seriously,” said Andreas Ibel, president of Build Europe, an association representing housing developers. Migration and the sluggish economy top the list of voters’ concerns, but analysts say housing policy fails to break through as returns on investment take time to register, making the
‘SILVER LINING’: Although the news caused TSMC to fall on the local market, an analyst said that as tariffs are not set to go into effect until April, there is still time for negotiations US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he would likely impose tariffs on semiconductor, automobile and pharmaceutical imports of about 25 percent, with an announcement coming as soon as April 2 in a move that would represent a dramatic widening of the US leader’s trade war. “I probably will tell you that on April 2, but it’ll be in the neighborhood of 25 percent,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club when asked about his plan for auto tariffs. Asked about similar levies on pharmaceutical drugs and semiconductors, the president said that “it’ll be 25 percent and higher, and it’ll
CHIP BOOM: Revenue for the semiconductor industry is set to reach US$1 trillion by 2032, opening up opportunities for the chip pacakging and testing company, it said ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控), the world’s largest provider of outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) services, yesterday launched a new advanced manufacturing facility in Penang, Malaysia, aiming to meet growing demand for emerging technologies such as generative artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The US$300 million facility is a critical step in expanding ASE’s global footprint, offering an alternative for customers from the US, Europe, Japan, South Korea and China to assemble and test chips outside of Taiwan amid efforts to diversify supply chains. The plant, the company’s fifth in Malaysia, is part of a strategic expansion plan that would more than triple
RSS