On September 7th, Taiwan’s Ministry of Science and Technology held a “Taiwan’s Science Parks Investment Promotion and Marketing Conference” at the Hilton in Santa Clara, California. The conference introduced Taiwan’s Ministry of Science and Technology and the unique features of the tech-based clusters of Taiwan’s three science parks.
Dr. Yu-Chin Hsu, Taiwan’s Deputy Minister of Science and Technology -- Director-General Dr. Wayne Wang of Hsinchu park -- Deputy Director-General Wenfang of Central Park, and Director-General Wei-Cheng Lin of South Science Park were present at the conference to discuss the history and future of Taiwan’s three science parks.
In 1958, the creation of the integrated circuit (IC) was introduced to Taiwan, sparking the growth of the IC technology industry. Over the years, Taiwan’s leading technology and science companies began to cluster in “science parks,” where the companies could have access to joint research opportunities, tax benefits, as well as more efficient shipping methods for their products.
As such, the current day three science parks of Taiwan were created: Hsinchu Park, Central Park, and South Science Park.
The Hsinchu Park was founded in 1980 and the first of the three parks to be established. The park has companies focusing on optoelectronics, solar energy, IC technology, semiconductor technology for clean energy, and digital creative and R&D technology.
The Central Park, founded in 2003, is the center of AI Robotics and semiconductor technology. The mass production of 12-inch wafer GIGAFAB has allow Central Park to expand further into the semiconductor industry. The park also has companies that develop optoelectronics, biotechnology, IC tech, and precision machinery.
Moving forward, all the parks are looking to advance Article Intelligence (AI) technology and expand into the biomedical industry, in hope of attracting more start-ups and partners.
Dr. Paul Lo, Corporate Vice President of Synopsis, gave a presentation titled “Developments in Emerging Technologies and Opportunities for Artificial Intelligence Applications” and Joseph Pon, Vice President of Applied Materials, Inc., shared his company’s investment experiences in two science parks in Taiwan.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Science and Technology is holding these “Invest-in-Taiwan delegations” to push for innovation and entrepreneurship, and invite companies to consider Taiwan as an investment destination. The delegations have met with companies in the semiconductor, AI, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, smart manufacturing industries, as well as new startup platforms around Silicon Valley.
Through this first visit to the United States and this first investment conference in Silicon Valley, Taiwan hopes to strengthen its links with Silicon Valley. Dr. Hsu also expressed hope for the investment conference to deepen American companies’ understanding of the Taiwan’s science parks, attracting them to establish companies in Taiwan.
Dr. Hsu explained that this would help identify and develop opportunities for cooperation between companies from both sides in the future.
Over one hundred forty industry representatives attended this conference, discussing future development of Taiwan’s science and technology industry.
