The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) on Saturday broke ground for a new industrial park in Kaohsiung, saying the project would create 2,400 jobs after its completion in 2026.
The Beigao Industrial Park (北高雄產業園區) in the city’s Gangshan District (岡山) would cover 42.87 hectares, the ministry said.
That includes 25.82 hectares for industrial use, with the rest being used for parks and detention basins, the ministry said.
Photo courtesy of Kaohsiung City Government via CNA
The operator would keep ownership of all industrial parcels and rent them out to manufacturers, it said.
Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) said the project would be developed in phases and is expected to cost about NT$4.6 billion (US$150.22 million).
The first phase, covering 6.53 hectares, would focus on metal product suppliers, machinery makers and optoelectronics producers, she said, adding that companies could apply for plots as early as next month.
The operator seeks to find about 20 tenants, the Kaohsiung City Government said, adding that they could begin construction as early as September.
After all development phases are concluded, the park’s production value would be NT$12.8 billion a year, Wang said.
Northern Kaohsiung would benefit economically from the park, she said.
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said that the park was designed to accommodate companies that are returning production to Taiwan from China amid increasing trade tensions between Washington and Beijing.
The site offers convenient transportation links to other industrial zones in the city, such as the Ciaotou Science Park (橋頭科學園區) and the Lujhu Science Park (路竹科學園區), boosting Kaohsiung’s effort to set up a manufacturing cluster, Chen said.
Northern Kaohsiung is home to a large number of old-economy manufacturers, such as companies that produce screws and bolts, and the new industrial park would help them upgrade their operations, he said.
Even though electricity rates for industrial users increased this month and southern Taiwan is prone to water shortages, the Kaohsiung City Government would do its best to provide one-stop assistance to companies in the new industrial park, Chen said.
He said he did not expect any problems with power or water supplies.
Semiconductor shares in China surged yesterday after Reuters reported the US had ordered chipmaking giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to halt shipments of advanced chips to Chinese customers, which investors believe could accelerate Beijing’s self-reliance efforts. TSMC yesterday started to suspend shipments of certain sophisticated chips to some Chinese clients after receiving a letter from the US Department of Commerce imposing export restrictions on those products, Reuters reported on Sunday, citing an unnamed source. The US imposed export restrictions on TSMC’s 7-nanometer or more advanced designs, Reuters reported. Investors figured that would encourage authorities to support China’s industry and bought shares
FLEXIBLE: Taiwan can develop its own ground station equipment, and has highly competitive manufacturers and suppliers with diversified production, the MOEA said The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday disputed reports that suppliers to US-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) had been asked to move production out of Taiwan. Reuters had reported on Tuesday last week that Elon Musk-owned SpaceX had asked their manufacturers to produce outside of Taiwan given geopolitical risks and that at least one Taiwanese supplier had been pushed to relocate production to Vietnam. SpaceX’s requests place a renewed focus on the contentious relationship Musk has had with Taiwan, especially after he said last year that Taiwan is an “integral part” of China, sparking sharp criticism from Taiwanese authorities. The ministry said
US President Joe Biden’s administration is racing to complete CHIPS and Science Act agreements with companies such as Intel Corp and Samsung Electronics Co, aiming to shore up one of its signature initiatives before US president-elect Donald Trump enters the White House. The US Department of Commerce has allocated more than 90 percent of the US$39 billion in grants under the act, a landmark law enacted in 2022 designed to rebuild the domestic chip industry. However, the agency has only announced one binding agreement so far. The next two months would prove critical for more than 20 companies still in the process
CHANGING JAPAN: Nvidia-powered AI services over cellular networks ‘will result in an artificial intelligence grid that runs across Japan,’ Nvidia’s Jensen Huang said Softbank Group Corp would be the first to build a supercomputer with chips using Nvidia Corp’s new Blackwell design, a demonstration of the Japanese company’s ambitions to catch up on artificial intelligence (AI). The group’s telecom unit, Softbank Corp, plans to build Japan’s most powerful AI supercomputer to support local services, it said. That computer would be based on Nvidia’s DGX B200 product, which combines computer processors with so-called AI accelerator chips. A follow-up effort will feature Grace Blackwell, a more advanced version, the company said. The announcement indicates that Softbank Group, which until early 2019 owned 4.9 percent of Nvidia, has secured a
RSS