Taiwan has taken the first step towards building a domestic software industry to complement its position as the world’s leading supplier of computer hardware with the opening of a software industrial complex, billed as AsiaÆs largest, in Taipei.
Attending the opening of the new Nankang Software Park, President Lee Teng-hui hailed it as a milestone in the development of Taiwan’s information technology industry. He said the park is the key to boosting TaiwanÆs software exports to $14bn by 2005, from just $2.2bn last year.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs will set up a software incubator center and an international research and development cooperation center in the park to introduce foreign technology and products. The park has five buildings with a combined floor space of approximately 10 acres, and this will double when the second phase opens in 2003. An official with the islandÆs Industrial Development Bureau said response from both local and international software companies had been good, and more than 90% of the available space is already booked.
The park was built at a cost of $400m by Century Development Company (CDC), a joint venture of 19 domestic and foreign companies. The second phase will cost another $600m. CDC chairman Huang Mao-hsiung said he estimates the park will provide 6,000 job opportunities before the end of this year.
