NSC Plans to Put Forth 'Grand National Sci-Tech Plan' by The End of This Year

Taipei, Dec. 17, 2012 (CENS)--The Cabinet-level National Science Council (NSC) plans to put forth “grand national sci-tech plan” by the end of this year, which calls for the switch of the dominating units of national sci-tech plans from academic units to various ministries and other central-government agencies, in order to push the innovation and upgrading of Taiwan’s sci-tech industry, said Cyrus C.Y. Chu, minister of the NSC.

The “grand national sci-tech plan” will account for 7-8% of the nation’s sci-tech budget in the grip of the NSC, which tops NT$95.162 billion this year, up 4.92% over last year’s level. The budget is a major funding source for the R&D in the academic and industrial sector. The plan will be approved at a meeting of NSC members at year end.

Chu pointed out that at present, various ministries and other central-government units would forward their R&D plans, mostly with rather smaller scales, to the NSC to seek funding support but rarely present large-scale national plans which are vital for the development and upgrading of the nation’s industries.

Presently, national R&D plans are mostly dominated by the academia but Taiwan’s sci-tech industry is in dire need of national R&D plans dominated by ministries and other central-government agencies. The NSC, for instance, is carrying out national energy and biotech plans.

Chu suggested the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) and the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) to push the overall of the ITRI. The ITRI now has annual budget of some NT$20 billion, which must allocated to five research institutes and six research centers under its auspices, a far cry from the NT$40 billion annual R&D outlay of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. (TSMC). Therefore, the ITRI is no longer capable of providing technological assistance to established enterprises, said Chu.
(by Philip Liu)