Taiwan’s three science parks reported revenues of NT$2.05 trillion (US$64.55 billion) in the 1st half of 2022, up 19.63 percent year on year to an all-time high, according to the National Science and Technology Council.
During the same period, total trade surged 22.63 percent to NT$2.17 trillion, while total employment went up 6.4 percent to 313,877, both the highest on record, the NSTC added.
The revenue of Hsinchu Science Park in northern Taiwan grew 10.94 percent to NT$825.4 billion; Central Taiwan Science Park gained 18.37 percent to NT$571.5 billion; and Southern Taiwan Science Park in the cities of Tainan and Kaohsiung surged 34.17 percent to NT$652.1 billion.
The NSTC attributed the parks’ strong performance to new applications of emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence of Things, 5G and high-performance computing, as well as rebounding consumer demand as the world enters the post-pandemic era.
According to the NSTC, despite the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, COVID-19 lockdowns in China and global inflation, Taiwan’s science parks continued to leverage their advantages as a leading semiconductor cluster and cement the country’s indispensable role in the global high-tech supply chain.
A breakdown of the statistics shows that integrated circuits remained the top revenue generator, rising 28.34 percent thanks to high demand for auto electronics, 5G devices, Internet of Things technology and smartphones.
Sales of computers and peripherals registered a similarly impressive gain of 27.15 percent, while the telecommunication, precision machinery and biotechnology sectors also went up 16.26 percent, 14.18 percent and 6.08 percent, respectively. Optoelectronics was the only sector to see a drop, decreasing 16.08 percent.
Despite uncertainties such as downward revisions of economic growth by major economies and rising interest rates by the U.S. Federal Reserve, the NSTC remains cautiously optimistic about the science parks’ outlook and projects moderate growth in the second half of the year. (SFC-E)
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