Efforts must be made to better secure Taiwan’s place in the global supply chain by localizing production of equipment and facilities used by the semiconductor industry, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday.
Tsai discussed the issue during a meeting with representatives from the Taiwan Electronic Equipment Industry Association at the Presidential Office in Taipei.
Product shortages throughout the COVID-19 pandemic — particularly of automotive chips — highlighted the pivotal role of Taiwan in the global supply chain, she said.
Photo: CNA
Tsai thanked the association for cooperating with the government on the shared goal of localizing production of important semiconductor industry equipment.
Many Taiwanese manufacturers of such equipment are small and medium enterprises, which often encounter resource shortages, she said, adding that the government would provide manufacturers with resource assistance and encourage more businesses to manufacture the needed equipment.
Taiwan’s semiconductor industry output in 2020 was valued at NT$90.7 billion (US$3.29 billion), which last year grew 28.7 percent to NT$116.7 billion, she said.
It was the product of a collaboration between the association, businesses and the government, she said.
The domestic chip industry last year invested NT$1 trillion in semiconductor fabs, with chip manufacturing equipment accounting for 70 percent of the costs, she said.
The majority of that equipment — or about NT$600 billion of the investment — were purchased from overseas, she said.
“That shows there is a large area for growth in the domestic industry. We must improve efforts to make that equipment locally,” she said.
“The association has also been pushing for Taiwanese companies to make manufacturing equipment for the international market, and there has been important progress in that area,” she added.
Citing an example, Tsai said that Taiwanese companies have signed memorandums of understanding with businesses in Japan’s Oita and Kumamoto prefectures.
Tsai said that she hoped Taiwan could become an advanced semiconductor manufacturing center.
Among key strategies are to push for local manufacturing of commercial equipment and advanced packaging equipment, she said.
“It is our hope that through continued cooperation between government and industry, we can make Taiwan’s electronic equipment industry more internationally competitive,” she said.
READY: The CGA said it closely monitored China’s maritime exercise, deployed vessels to shadow the Chinese ships one-on-one and set up emergency response centers Chinese navy and coast guard ships have returned to China, signaling the end of a massive maritime exercise, authorities said yesterday. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) released images it said showed Chinese vessels sailing north in rough seas past Taiwan on Thursday, on their way to China. “All the Chinese coast guard went back to China yesterday, so although they have not officially made any announcement, we consider it over,” CGA Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said. Beijing has not confirmed the drills and the Chinese Ministry of National Defense did not say whether the maneuvers had taken place when asked at a
People can take the Taipei MRT free of charge if they access it at Nanjing Sanmin Station or Taipei Arena Station on the Green Line between 12am and 6am on Jan. 1, the Taipei Department of Transportation said on Friday, outlining its plans to ease crowding during New Year’s events in the capital. More than 200,000 people are expected to attend New Year’s Eve events in Taipei, with singer A-mei (張惠妹) performing at the Taipei Dome and the city government’s New Year’s Eve party at Taipei City Hall Plaza, the department said. As people have tended to use the MRT’s Blue or
PUBLIC TRANSPORT: As some roads would be fully or partially closed, people are advised to take the MRT, with services expanded to accommodate more riders This year’s Taipei Marathon, which has obtained its first gold label certification from World Athletics, is to be held from 5am to 1pm tomorrow and would have 28,000 participants. The race is to start from the Taipei City Plaza and would go through major roads throughout the city, with traffic control implemented from 6am to 2pm, officials said. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system and New Taipei City MRT Circle line would start operating at 5am on the day of the race, they said. The race would cover Renai Road, Xinyi Road, Hangzhou S Road, Aiguo east and west roads,
Upon its completion next year, the new Tamkang Bridge (淡江大橋) in New Taipei City is to be an important landmark in Taiwan, alongside Taipei 101, Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shi-kai (陳世凱) said today. The bridge is scheduled to be completed in December next year and open to the public in the first half of 2026, connecting New Taipei City’s Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里) districts. It is an asymmetric single-tower suspension bridge, nearly 70 stories tall, designed by world-famous architect Zaha Hadid. The bridge aims to alleviate traffic in Tamsui and on the Guandu Bridge (關渡大橋), in addition to increasing the
RSS