The government yesterday formally gave the green light to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to relocate the chipmaker's low-tech eight-inch wafer facilities to Shanghai, a government official said.
"TSMC will be able to obtain official permission in two weeks," Minister of Economic Affairs Lin Yi-fu (
"We concluded that the migration will not hurt the development of the nation's high-tech industry and labor market," Lin said. "Furthermore, the company's investment plan is reasonable."
With government approval, the world's biggest made-to-order chipmaker became the first local chipmaker to build a factory in China.
The company's investment plan, proposed in late 2002, made an important stride last week after the ministry's Investment Commission agreed that the company has reached the minimum required production capacity at its advanced 12-inch wafer plants for six months in a row with a production rate at 90 percent capacity -- which is a prerequisite to obtain final official permission.
The second push is TSMC's labor policy, Lin said, citing TSMC's proposal which says benefits of its current employees will not be affected by the plan.
Lin also dismissed concern over the outflow of local high-tech talent, saying that, among the 166 staff members of TSMC's Shanghai factory, only 22 were Taiwanese, while another 100 local technicians will still be based in Taiwan to provide support to the Chinese subsidiary.
TSMC's investment plan, which indicates that the company plans to remit US$371 million -- including US$56 million that was remitted previously -- out of a total investment of US$898 million in three years, seemed quite reasonable to people at the meeting, Lin added.
TSMC welcomed the government's final approval of its plan yesterday.
"We're glad to hear about the approval," chairman Morris Chang (張忠謀) told reporters after an investors' conference held in Hsinchu yesterday. "Next, we're preparing to move the equipment over."
As TSMC enjoyed its long-awaited victory, downstream package-and-testing companies, whose associations also applied for such permission, however, will need to wait as the ministry's Industrial Development Bureau is still evaluating the proposal, Lin said.
Also See Story:
TSMC sees rise in chip prices ahead
Tropical Storm Gaemi strengthened into a typhoon at 2pm yesterday, and could make landfall in Yilan County tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The agency was scheduled to issue a sea warning at 11:30pm yesterday, and could issue a land warning later today. Gaemi was moving north-northwest at 4kph, carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 118.8kph and gusts of 154.8kph. The circumference is forecast to reach eastern Taiwan tomorrow morning, with the center making landfall in Yilan County later that night before departing from the north coast, CWA weather forecaster Kuan Shin-ping (官欣平) said yesterday. Uncertainty remains and
DISRUPTIONS: The high-speed rail is to operate as normal, while several airlines either canceled flights or announced early departures or late arrivals Schools and offices in 15 cities and counties are to be closed today due to Typhoon Gaemi, local governments announced last night. The 15 are: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, Keelung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang counties. People should brace for torrential rainfall brought by the storm, with its center forecast to make landfall on the east coast between tonight and tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The agency issued a sea warning for the typhoon at 11:30pm on Monday, followed by a land warning at 11:30am yesterday. As of
CASUALTY: A 70-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree in Kaohsiung as the premier warned all government agencies to remain on high alert for the next 24 hours Schools and offices nationwide are to be closed for a second day today as Typhoon Gaemi crosses over the nation, bringing torrential rain and whipping winds. Gaemi was forecast to make landfall late last night. From Tuesday night, its outer band brought substantial rainfall and strong winds to the nation. As of 6:15pm last night, the typhoon’s center was 20km southeast of Hualien County, Central Weather Administration (CWA) data showed. It was moving at 19kph and had a radius of 250km. As of 3pm yesterday, one woman had died, while 58 people were injured, the Central Emergency Operation Center said. The 70-year-old
SEA SEARCH: Nine crew members of a cargo ship had taken to the water after the vessel sunk off the southern coast, with a rescue effort under way, officials said The strongest typhoon to hit Taiwan in eight years yesterday killed three people and flooded parts of the nation’s second-biggest city, while rescuers were searching for nine sailors after their cargo ship sank in the storm. Typhoon Gaemi transformed streets in Kaohsiung into rivers, with some households flooded. Offices and schools were closed for the second consecutive day, with thousands of people evacuated. Three people died and 380 were injured due to strong winds and torrential rainfall brought by Typhoon Gaemi, the Central Emergency Response Center said. The typhoon made landfall in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳) at midnight yesterday and departed Taiwan