A Ministry of Economic Affairs-organized investment promotion tour of North America wrapped up Aug. 13 in New York, securing commitments of NT$8 billion (US$264 million) from several industry heavyweights across a wide range of sectors in Taiwan.
Involving officials such as MOEA Vice Minister Wang Mei-hua and representatives of a number of locally based companies, the 11-day tour included visits to 10 major players in the biotech, display technology, green energy, Internet of Things, materials, metals, semiconductor and smart machinery sectors. In addition, three investment seminars were staged in New York, San Francisco and Vancouver attracting more than 200 participants from leading U.S. and Canadian firms.
According to the ministry, the tour was an invaluable opportunity to bring North American companies up to speed on the government’s progress in implementing economic development strategies such as the five-plus-two innovative industries initiative.
Some of the U.S. highlights of the tour included the MOEA inking a letter of intent with California-headquartered Applied Materials Inc. The global leader in materials engineering solutions for the flat panel display, semiconductor and solar photovoltaic industries agreed to boost Taiwan production of equipment for the display sector. Another was with Pennsylvania-based Air Products and Chemicals Inc. on expanding its three manufacturing facilities in Taiwan to meet increasing demand from local semiconductor firms.
Equally lucrative tie-ups saw Gloria Material Technology Corp. from southern Taiwan’s Tainan City conclude a memorandum of understanding with California-based Thermal Technology LLC on developing Taiwan into a major supplier of additive manufacturing metal powders in the Asia-Pacific.
Hsinchu County-based Industrial Technology Research Institute followed suit by further strengthening its core capabilities through an agreement with Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. of New Jersey on advanced R&D activities.
On the Canadian front, the MOEA concluded a letter of intent with British Columbia-headquartered Solarize Technologies Inc. under which the Taiwan expatriate-owned firm will invest in the local production of renewable and solar energy generation equipment.
New Taipei City’s Development Center for Biotechnology also finalized a letter of intent with British Columbia-headquartered Viva Pharmaceutical Inc. on industry-related projects. VPI expressed a strong interest in growing its investment footprint in Taiwan and authorizing licensed production of its patented medicines. (SFC-E)
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