Premier Lai touts 10-year development plan for Taiwan’s science parks

2018/04/30

The 10-year development plan for Taiwan’s three science parks will foster growth in innovative sectors by strengthening networking among industry clusters and promoting the facilities as proving grounds for emerging technologies, according to Premier Lai Ching-te April 26.
 
 In 2017, the parks registered record overall employment levels and export and sales revenues, Lai said. Under the plan unveiled the same day, the Ministries of Economic Affairs, Education and Science and Technology will work to cement the facilities’ status as core drivers of economic progress through boosting industrial upgrading, enhancing talent cultivation and deepening collaboration between academia and the public and private sectors, he added.
 
 Lai made the remarks after receiving a briefing by the Ministry of Science and Technology on the progress and future development of the Hsinchu Science Park in northern Taiwan, Central Taiwan Science Park in Taichung City and the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Kaohsiung and Tainan cities.
 
 According to the MOST, the plan aims to transform the parks into hubs of next-generation technologies by leveraging their unique industrial advantages. HSP will be promoted as a base for software development in fields spanning artificial intelligence and medical systems.
 
 CTSP will establish a world-class R&D ecosystem for AI, Internet of Things and robotics manufacturing, while STSP will foster industry clusters in sectors including aviation, smart robotics and semiconductors. Going forward, the latter will also cooperate with Shalun Green Energy Science City in southern Taiwan’s Tainan City in advancing renewable technologies.
 
 The 22-hectare science city, under construction next to Taiwan High Speed Rail’s Tainan Station, will serve as a base for cross-sector collaboration in areas such as solar and wind power generation equipment and systems integration infrastructure like smart grids. Upon completion, it is expected to feature demonstration, exhibition and testing and certification facilities, as well as a branch of Taipei City-based Academia Sinica, Taiwan’s foremost research institution.
 
 Other areas of focus in the development plan include advancing international exchanges, boosting the functionality of the parks, promoting circular economy practices, and strengthening energy storage and conservation, the ministry said.
 
 Taiwan’s three science parks have generated increasing returns in recent years owing to heightened demand for advanced mobile communication, semiconductor and telecoms equipment, as well as display panels, new pharmaceuticals and processors for personal computers, smartphones and telecommunication devices. Combined revenues rose 3.58 percent year on year to NT$2.46 trillion (US$84.4 billion) in 2017, while the 943 resident companies employed 272,194 workers as of last December, according to the MOST.

Source: Taiwan Today (https://taiwantoday.tw/news.php?unit=2&post=133431)