The government is planning to invest NT$150 billion (US$4.63 billion) in start-ups annually for five years to create 20,000 jobs within five years and become a start-up exporting nation within the next decade, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said on Friday.
The Executive Yuan is also budgeting NT$11.7 billion for the first year of the third edition of the Asia Silicon Valley policy, which is expected to run from next year to 2028.
The National Development Council is also expected to allocate NT$12.5 billion for next fiscal year, bringing government investments in private start-ups to about NT$25 billion, the Executive Yuan said.
Photo: CNA
The Asia Silicon Valley initiative was launched in 2016, with a second edition announced in 2021, while the current edition, based on President William Lai’s (賴清德) innovative entrepreneurship tropical ecology policy, was approved on Friday.
The third edition of the policy is a four-year program based on two central themes: exports of Internet of Things (IoT) products and doubling investment in start-up companies, with a focus on artificial intelligence, 5G networks and satellite technology.
An Executive Yuan official, speaking on condition of anonymity, yesterday said that the policy aims to assist Taiwanese start-ups in establishing a global presence, adding that the government has established sites in Tokyo and Silicon Valley, California, and funds in Southeast Asia.
This would facilitate Taiwanese industries’ efforts in digitization and adoption of the net zero concept, the source said.
The policy encourages insurance companies to invest in start-up companies and promotes the relaxation of regulations on angel investments, they said.
The Executive Yuan is to amend laws to create greater incentives to encourage corporate investment in start-ups, they said.
The government is mulling amendments to Article 23-2 of the Statute for Industrial Innovation (產業創新條例) and relaxing regulations from two to five years.
At present, Article 23-2 states that individuals making cash investments of up to NT$1 million in high-risk start-ups — meaning they have existed for less than two years — and obtaining stock in these companies can, within two years of securing stock ownership, file for a tax reduction of up to 50 percent or NT$3 million of their general income for up to two years.
The amendment is expected to be reviewed next year, the source said.
The source said that the project hopes to foster enough start-ups to account for 5.2 percent of the global IoT market’s value, the source said.
The source also said that the goal was for the companies to develop 300 intelligent solutions, 100 of which would be exported overseas, and to establish three overseas start-up “colonies.”
The policy’s goal is to attract US$5 billion in funding and achieve 100 “exits” for start-up companies, they said.
SEND A MESSAGE: Sinking the amphibious assault ship, the lead warship of its class, is meant to show China the US Navy is capable of sinking their ships, an analyst said The US and allied navies plan to sink a 40,000-tonne ship at the latest Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise to simulate defeating a Chinese amphibious assault on Taiwan. This year’s RIMPAC — the 29th iteration of the world’s largest naval exercise — involves the US, 28 partners, more than 25,000 personnel, 40 warships, three submarines and more than 150 aircraft operating in and around Hawaii from yesterday to Aug. 1, the US Navy said in a press release. The major components of the event include multidomain warfare exercises in multiship surface engagements, anti-submarine warfare and multi-axis defense of a carrier strike
A new message broadcast on the Taipei MRT’s Wenhu (Brown) Line urging passengers to yield their seats to those in need, not necessarily elderly people, would be extended to other MRT lines and public transportation in the capital, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said yesterday. Chiang was responding to reporters’ questions on the sidelines of a news conference at Taipei City Hall promoting healthy walking. Several disputes over priority seats on public transportation have recently been reported, sparking debate about who qualifies to sit in them, as most of the cases involved elderly people asking young people to give up their
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
The airspace around Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) is to be closed for an hour on July 25 and July 23 respectively, due to the Han Kuang military exercises, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The annual exercise is to be held on Taiwan proper and its outlying islands from July 22 to 26. During last year’s exercise, the military conducted anti-aircraft landing drills at the Taoyuan airport for the first time, for which a one-hour no-fly ban was issued. Based on a live-fire bulletin sent out by the Maritime and Port Bureau, the nation’s