Annual sales generated by a group of industrial parks in central and southern Taiwan supervised by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) hit a new high of more than NT$450 billion (US$16.19 billion) in 2021 on the back of strong global demand for tech gadgets, the ministry said Monday.
Data compiled by the MOEA's Export Processing Zone Administration (EPZA) showed revenue posted by firms in the industrial parks, located in Taichung, Kaohsiung and Pingtung, totaled NT$465.6 billion in 2021, up 16 percent from a year earlier.
It was the first time firms operating in those industrial parks have recorded combined sales topping NT$450 billion level, the EPZA said.
Exports from these industrial parks rose 16.4 percent from a year earlier to US$16.68 billion in 2021, when imports from them stood at US$11.73 billion, up 32.4 percent from a year earlier, the EPZA added.
The industrial parks under the MOEA include Taichung Software Park and Taichung Technology Industrial Park in central Taiwan, Kaohsiung Software Park, Nanzih Technology Industrial Park, Kaohsiung Technology Industrial Park, Kaohsiung Chenggong Logistics Park, the Linkuang Technology Industrial Park, and Pingtung Industrial Park in the south.
However, the three major science parks in Taiwan -- Hsinchu Science Park, Central Taiwan Science Park, and Southern Taiwan Science Park -- are managed by the Ministry of Science and Technology and not included in the report.
Yang Po-keng (???), head of the EPZA, said Taiwan's tech industry benefited from solid demand for semiconductors, pushing up shipments from the industrial parks last year.
In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic also created more business for e-commerce and industrial information communications firms, giving an additional boost to their revenue, Yang said.
In addition to record sales in 2021, the industrial parks also saw the number of firms operating there increase to 715, marking the number to top 700 for the first time, EPZA data indicated.
Moreover, these industrial parks currently employ more than 86,000 workers, the highest level in two decades, as they seek to roll out as many products as possible to meet demand, the EPZA said.
Although the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to continue to impact the global economy and a lack of labor and raw materials is likely to continue to cause difficulties for the global tech sector, Taiwan's industrial parks continue to grow.
This has been achieved by attracting more investment in a wide range of areas including 5G applications, the convergence of artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (AIoT) and automotive electronics, Yang said.
The EPZA has provided assistance to many companies seeking technology upgrades to smart production by taking advantage of 5G and AIoT knowhow, which is expected to create about NT$400 million in business opportunities, Yang added.
In addition, several industrial parks, including Kaohsiung Software Park, Pingtung Industrial Park and Nanzih Technology Industrial Park will continue to expand and thereby boost output, Yang said.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel