September 11, 2004
Authorities at the Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park (HSIP), the crown jewel of Taiwan's industrial machine, foresee the park's annual production value expanding by 40% on the year to
NTD 1.2 trillion this year. While such a massive figure would already be sufficient to set a new annual high, that's the conservative forecast, as some are predicting the HSIP will produce
NTD 1.3 trillion in goods this year. The park has already racked up a
NTD 534.1 billion production value in the first half of the year, but with plants in the park already scheduled to be running at full capacity into next year, few doubt the value in the second half of the year, which encompasses the peak output months for Taiwan's
IT sector, will do anything but surpass that of the first half of the year.
Park authorities report that integrated circuits and optoelectronics, Taiwan's twin industrial stars, are experiencing the fastest growth in production values among industries in Taiwan this year. The production value for integrated circuits grew 47.4% on the year to
NTD 360.6 billion, and accounted for 67.5% of total HSIP revenues, in the first half of the year. This was due chiefly to growth in IC design and silicon chip fabrication revenues. The production value for optoelectronics hit
NTD 66.8 billion, for an on-year growth rate of 97.5%.
Authorities say that strong demand will assure continued growth this year despite certain concerns regarding the effects of a possible drop in product prices and high oil prices.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs' Industrial Technology Intelligence Services forecasts that the total domestic production value for semiconductors will climb 41.6% to
NTD 1.1598 trillion in Taiwan this year. This makes up a sizable portion of total global semiconductor production, which the Semiconductor Industry Association expects to grow 29% to
USD 214 billion (
NTD 7.291 trillion) this year.
A look at statistics for other industries in the HSIP in the first half of the year reveals that production value grew 21.5% on the year to
NTD 69.5 billion for computer peripherals, 20.4% to
NTD 31.7 billion for telecommunications, 71.5% to
NTD 4.3 billion for precision instruments, and 48.2% to
NTD 1.2 billion for the emerging biotech industry.
(Central News Agency)
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