Headline News
Microsoft announces biggest investment in Taiwan
Microsoft on Monday (Oct. 26) announced that it is going to invest in four new digital projects for Taiwan, the company's largest investment in the country in 31 years.
The four new digital investment projects in Taiwan include building an in-house data center, adding a cloud hardware team, launching an industrial ecosystem, and injecting international security resources.
According to the market research corporation IDC, Microsoft and the industrial ecosystem it is creating through the four new projects will bring more than NT$300 billion (US$10.48 billion) in economic output and create more than 30,000 job opportunities for Taiwan by 2024.
Taiwan to become green energy hub in Asia
President Tsai Ing-wen unveiled the government's strategies to transform Taiwan into a renewable energy hub by boosting investment and production value.
Tsai said at the opening ceremony of the annual Energy Taiwan exhibition on Oct.14, that the first focus is to continue to attract foreign investors to invest in Taiwan's green energy development.
"From 2020-2025, Taiwan expects an additional 14 offshore wind farms to be completed," Tsai said, indicating Taiwan will become stronger in renewable energy development.
The aggregate production capacity of Taiwan's offshore wind energy sector totaled 128 megawatts as of July 2020, but is expected to hit 5.7 gigawatts by the end of 2025. Also accumulated investments in offshore wind energy development in Taiwan are expected to hit NT$1 trillion (US$34.48 billion) by end of 2025.
Accumulated investments in solar energy development are forecast to hit NT$1.2 trillion by the end of 2025,
Solar energy accounted for 57 percent of total green energy capacity in Taiwan as of July 2020, and that ratio is expected to grow to about 66 percent by the end of 2025.
Economy & Society
Taiwan expects $103 billion in semiconductor exports in 2020
Taiwan expects NT$3 trillion (US$102.9 billion) in output value of semiconductor products for the year 2020, with the objective of NT$5 trillion by 2030 highly attainable, according to Economic Minister Wang Mei-hua.
Taiwan comes second in terms of the production value of semiconductor goods, logging NT$2.7 trillion last year. August saw NT$31.1 billion’s worth of semiconductor exports and with the robust demand for 5G and AI applications, Wang expects that the country will continue to dominate the sector globally.
Taiwan's economy ranks 5th in innovation potential
Taiwan has been ranked as having the fifth-greatest potential for economic innovation in the world, according to a new index released on Oct. 15 by Bloomberg Economics.
In its latest ranking of 135 economies, Bloomberg Economics took into consideration four factors: "IT deepening," "human capital," "business fluctuation," and "institutional quality measures.”
Taiwan is listed fifth for its overall potential to innovate, following Japan, the U.S., Germany, and Switzerland.
Rounding out the top 10 are respectively Singapore, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, and the U.K.
Gorilla Bao Bao to become a father in Apenheul Zoo
Bao Bao, a male gorilla sent by Taipei Zoo in 2018 to the Netherlands, is expected to become a father next year, a landmark achievement in a global primate conservation program, according to Dutch Zoo Apenheul in Apeldoorn.
"Bao Bao lived alone for a long time and his genes had not yet been used in the international breeding program, so Apenheul is delighted that a gorilla baby is on the way!" said the Dutch zoo in a press release.
The fetus carried by 18-year-old female Gyasi will be the first for the 35-year-old Bao Bao. Gyasi's daughter, Tayari, is also pregnant after being sent to Taipei Zoo along with another female in November 2019.
