Taiwan Proposes to Invest Around NT$ 100 Billion or US$ 3.35 Billion

In line with last year’s investment of NT$ 99 billion, this year too, Taiwan proposes to invest around NT$ 100 billion or US$ 3.35 billion in domestic petrochemical industry, Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) has said.
 
Of the total sum, NT$ 15 billion would be invested in high-value petrochemical sectors this year, around 13 percent more than NT$ 13.3 billion invested last year, according to Focus Taiwan.
 
Increased allocation for investment in high-value sectors is mainly attributable to a program that the Cabinet approved last year to fasten development of high value-added petrochemical industries, the CEPD said.
 
The program focuses on supporting downstream petrochemical firms to get more competitive and innovative, and gain higher integration in the industry’s supply chain by creating a liking and demand for higher value items, the Council said.
 
To this end, the Government each year invests around NT$ 600 million to persuade petrochemical businesses to spend more on research and development.
 
Likewise, the Ministry of Economic Affairs has constituted a promotion office, which works in association with research institutions to back development of high value-added petrochemical businesses and enable producers to escalate the value chain.
 
The program has already started delivering results, and the state-run CPC Corp., Taiwan has invested NT$ 285 million to set up an eco-friendly energy research institute and test centre for bulk production and testing of new materials on a pilot basis. The company foresees its investment in the sector reaching NT$ 2.3 billion by 2016, it added.
 
Meanwhile, private firms are also eagerly surveying the prospects of establishing R&D centres, the Council said.
 
The Government intends to continue employing more resources to upgrade the R&D abilities of the industry, skills of the technicians and for enabling cooperation amongst operators, it added.