Taiwan eyes $1.3 billion in foreign tech investment under new scheme
TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan hopes a new programme will attract T$40 billion ($1.34 billion) of research and development investment by foreign tech companies, creating more than 6,300 jobs a year, the government said on Thursday.
Taipei will spend more than T$10 billion in subsidies over the next seven years to attract the investment, Lin Chuan-neng, the island's vice minister of economic affairs, said on Thursday.
"We will target three investment in three areas, which are 5G, artificial intelligence and semiconductors," Lin told a news conference in Taipei.
"We hope to get them to Taiwan to do research and development," he added. "We hope to boost related supply chains in Taiwan."
The export-reliant island is home to tech behemoths like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd <2330.TW>, the world's biggest contract chipmaker and supplier to U.S. tech giants such as Apple Inc <AAPL.O>.
Lin said the government wants to turn Taiwan into a "global hub for high technology" under the programme, in a bid to "seize the opportunity" amid a global reshuffle of the technology supply chain following U.S.-China trade tensions.
Taiwan's government is in talks with international companies for future investments, Lin added, declining to give details.
($1=29.8960 Taiwan dollars)
(Reporting by Yimou Lee; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Gerry Doyle)
