Premier vows to support Taiwan's semiconductor industry

2018-09-06

Taipei, Sept. 5 (CNA) Premier Lai Ching-te said on Wednesday the government will do its best to come up with pragmatic policies that support the local semiconductor industry.Speaking at a press conference before the opening ceremony of SEMICON Taiwan 2018, the largest IC trade show in the country, Lai said the government will continue to promote tax breaks, relax of regulations and introduce proposals to resolve the "five shortages" as a way of encouraging large semiconductor firms like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) to invest more in the country.The so-called five shortages -- land, water, electricity, skilled workers and manpower -- have long been major problems facing the industrial sector.TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, announced last year a plan to build an advanced 3 nanometer wafer fab in Tainan with total investment of more than NT$600 billion (US$19.52 billion) to maintain the lead over its peers.Lai said that following the of efforts of government, industry and academic circle, TSMC has decided to stay in Taiwan to develop sophisticated processes, including 7 nanometer, 5nm and even 3nm technologies.In addition, Lai said, other semiconductor giants such as the world's largest IC packaging and testing services provider ASE Technology Holding Co. and dynamic random access memory access (DRAM) Winbond Electronics Corp. have also pledged to invest more in Taiwan."Taiwan has become one of the most important hubs for the global semiconductor industry," Lai said. "The government is determined to lend its support to help the local semiconductor industry move forward.Lai said he was delighted to see a larger SEMICON Taiwan this year with more than 650 exhibitors attending, at a time when Taiwan's semiconductor industry continues to grow.SEMICON Taiwan, held at Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, will run through Friday. The exhibition, which celebrates the 60th anniversary of the global semiconductor business, was organized by SEMI, a global industry association of companies that serves the manufacturing supply chain in the electronics industry.On Tuesday, SEMI analyst Tseng Jui-yu said the production value of Taiwan's semiconductor industry is forecast to hit about NT$3 trillion in 2021, adding that the industry is expected to see year-on-year output growth of 6-8 percent from 2020-2021.According to Taiwan's Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center (IEK) under the government-sponsored Industrial Technology Research Institute, the production value of the local semiconductor industry totaled NT$2.46 billion in 2017, making it the third largest in the world, after the United States and South Korea.

Source： Overseas Community Affairs Council