Yilan Science Park opens in northeastern Taiwan
2016/05/13
Yilan Science Park is open for business in northeastern Taiwan, with Omni Calibration Laboratory Ltd. the first tenant taking advantage of the world-class facility established to foster the country’s information communications technology and digital content industries, according to YSP administration May 10.
Situated 30 minutes by freeway from Taipei City, the 70.8-hecatre park is the newest and sixth campus of the Ministry of Science and Technology’s 36-year-old Hsinchu Science Park—the oldest and largest of facility of its kind in Taiwan. YSP’s cutting-edge ICT infrastructure, investor incentives such as tax breaks, reduced tariffs on machinery imports and R&D grants, as well as access to a large, highly skilled labor pool, make the park a must for small and medium enterprises.
Approved by the Executive Yuan in May 2005, the park cost more than US$250 million and Yilan County Government spent US$62 million on improving the connecting road networks. It is envisaged the facility will play a central role in transforming Yilan County into a cluster for knowledge-based services and spurring the upgrade of local industries.
Francis Lee, director-general of YCG’s Industrial Development and Investor Promotion Committee, said he expects the park to be a major success and a force in Taiwan’s ongoing industrial transformation. “Our pristine environment and abundance of cultural and industrial assets are real draws when it comes to attracting tenants from around Taiwan.”
According to Lee, three more companies will join Omni in the park within weeks, with at least another 10—including one based in the U.S.—close to following suit. “When fully operational, we expect the park to create 12,000 jobs,” he said.
Omni General Manager and Yilan native Lo Chien-sheng said the park’s advanced infrastructure and availability of land were two reasons for relocating the calibration services provider from Dingkan Industrial Zone in New Taipei City. “I also want to help keep Yilan’s ICT talents at home and help build the region into an economic powerhouse.”
Another lure is the partnership between the park and local tertiary institutions, Lo said, citing the planned opening by 2021 of a National Ilan University campus bordering the park site. “Hsinchu Science Park’s success was built on industry-academia cooperation, and we hope this experience can be repeated in Yilan.”
Taiwan’s three science parks in Hsinchu, Taichung and Tainan are major drivers of the nation’s competitiveness and economic development. Combined revenues for the three facilities was NT$2.31 trillion (US$70.9 billion) in 2015, according to the latest MOST statistics. They coordinate public and private sector resources in bolstering Taiwan’s high-tech companies and augmenting synergies in key areas such as biotechnology, semiconductors, communications and precision machinery.
Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=244608&ctNode=2194&mp=9)
