US defense companies interested in Taiwan's new defense industry park

June 8, 2005

A portion of the Tungluo annex of the Hsinchu Science Park is being developed for joint military and civilian uses in order to attract foreign defense enterprises and foster the development of Taiwan's high-tech defense industry. With Taiwan's military procurements to total at least NTD 500 billion over the next five years, both domestic and overseas defense companies have expressed interest in setting up operations in the new park.

This special military/civilian zone will cover 37.6 hectares, about a third of the Tungluo annex's total area. The National Science Council, which oversees Taiwan's science parks, expects construction of park infrastructure to commence this year and wrap up by 2010. Around NTD 9 billion is to be invested in the development of this special zone.

Of the NTD 500 billion projected to be spent on military procurements over the next five years, around NTD 200 billion is slated for high technology military equipment. This big budget for high-tech procurements is expected to draw overseas enterprises to the park. In turn, domestic high-tech enterprises are expected to earn a portion of this defense spending by cooperating with foreign defense companies.

The Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology has already agreed to set up in the park and over thirty enterprises have expressed their interest in moving in.

An NSC official who led a delegation to visit United States Department of Defense officials and major US defense industry companies in early May says that Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and ITT promised to further study the feasibility of setting up operations in the park. The official noted that a number of US defense companies already have cooperative relationships with Taiwanese enterprises.

It is reported that, if these US companies set up in the Tungluo annex, Lockheed Martin would most likely manufacture parts for the F-16 fighter aircraft and components for the C4ISR system it is presently developing with Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense, General Dynamics is likely to make parts for its jet engines, and ITT could produce parts for radars and night vision goggles.

In addition to devoting a third of the area of the Tungluo annex to the defense industry, the administrators of the Hsinchu Science Park also plan to allocate over twenty hectares of the annex to the establishment of an environmental technology zone. This zone would be dedicated to high-tech environmental enterprises, such as recyclers of batteries and cathode ray tubes.

(United Daily News)

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