Link back to:
Information Technology Landscape in Nations

Return to Case Study Page

Taiwan: Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park

Location: Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park (HSIP) is located fifteen minutes by car or bus from the heart of Hsinchu City. The Sun Yat-sen Freeway and the Second Northern Freeway provide the principal means of access. The distance to Taipei is about 70 kilometers (~44 miles) and to Taichung about 80 kilometers (~50 miles).¹

Map located at http://www.sipa.gov.tw/guide/2000c/02_e.html

Year Founded: 1981 with 17 firms. ²

Focus:  The science-based industries that have been established and operating in the Park include the following business segments: ³

• Integrated Circuits: The IC industry has for several years been the Park's fastest growing sector. It includes IC design, materials, manufacturing, packaging and testing, and processing equipment.
   
• Computers and Peripherals: The field of computers and related products is the most heavily represented in the Park. It includes makers of seven categories of products: computer sys- tems, storage devices, input devices, output devices, networking equipment, special software, and computer parts.
   
• Telecommunications: The Park's telecommunications industry currently in- cludes four product types: telecommunications systems (including telephones, modems and switching systems), microwave systems and components, fiber-optics systems and components, and satellite communications systems.
   
• Optoelectronics: Companies in the optoelectronics field can currently be subdivided into makers of optoelectronic systems and components -- including optical disk drives, di- gital still video cameras, contact-type image sensors, optical semiconductor devices, and optical diodes -- and makers of optical systems and components such as optical instruments and lenses.
   
• Automation: The field of automation is currently represented in the Park by companies producing automation systems -- including CNC machine tools, robots, high-pressure water cutting systems, vacuum generators and factory information automation systems -- and firms offering related services such as die casting and surface treatment processes.
   
• Bioengineering: The bioengineering field presently includes producers of cultured seedlings, vaccines, diagnostic kits, medical instruments, 7-aminocephalhisporanic acid, etc.

Size:  HSIP covers an area of 605 hectares (1,512 acres), stretching over Hsinchu County.⁴

Infrastructure:  HSIP is approximately a 50-minute drive from Chiang Kai-shek International Airport and two hours from Keelung and Taichung Port. The Northern Second Freeway from Taipei to Chudong goes directly to the Park. The Park can also be accessed by rail via Hsinchu Station, one of the major railway stations in northern Taiwan.⁵

Universities: The Park is located near National Tsing Hua University and National Chiao Tung University.⁶ Both facilities provide the Park's companies with  human resources as well as professional training opportunities.⁷

• National Tsing Hua University
• National Chiao Tung University

The Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), is a national-level, government-sponsored non-profit organization for applied research, that has seven laboratories and four research centers focused on fields like chemistry, electronics, mechanics, materials, energy and resources, computers and communications, optoelectronics, industrial safety and health, measurement standards, aviation and space, and biomedical engineering.⁸ ITRI has developed numerous technologies, creating more than 30 spin-off companies in the Park⁹ and hosts an incubator center for start-ups in technology.¹⁰

The area is also the site for the National Experimental High School, which provides education to the children of employees working in the Park and nearby national research institutes.¹¹ The nearby research institutes include the National Center for High-performance Computing, the Synchrotron Radiation Research Center, and the National Space Program Office.¹²

Government Funding: The government invested more than US$620.5 million in software and hardware facilities for the park ¹³

Measures of Success: As of the end of 2000, the Park employed 102,840 people, approximately 62 % had at least a college degree.¹⁴ Returned expatriates accounted for 4,108 people.¹⁵  As already mentioned, ITRI has had 30 spin-off companies. In 2000, the park hosted 289 firms.¹⁶ Combined sales revenue for the six industries represented in the Park reached USD $29.8 billion, with a growth rate of 46%. The mix of domestic to foreign companies was 239 versus 50.¹⁷ The Park had 59 companies listed on Taiwan's stock exchange or OTC (over-the-counter) market.¹⁸ The companies received 12 innovative product awards and in 1999 its domestic firms received 1,260 patents.¹⁹

Notable Tenants: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, Ltd. (TSMC), United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC), and Macronix International Co., Ltd. ²⁰

History Description: The limits of land use have been reached. Given the rapid growth of high-tech industries, the Park Administration has chosen the townships of Chunan, a 15-minute drive from Hsinchu, and Tungluo, 40-minute from Hsinchu, as the sites for its fourth expansion plan.²¹

The Taiwan government is encouraged by the progress of HSIP and has initiated the "Green Silicon Island" project to transform HSIP into a global R&D base.²²

REFERENCES

1. http://www.sipa.gov.tw/seconde/indus-e/indus-e.htm#Anchor01.  Visited on December 12, 2001.

2. http://www.sipa.gov.tw/en/seconde/hsip/hsi11000_01.htm.  Visited on December 12, 2001.

3. http://www.sipa.gov.tw/en/seconde/administration/adm11000_01.htm Visited on December 12, 2001.

4. http://www.sipa.gov.tw/guide/2000c/02_e.html.  Visited on December 12, 2001.

5. Id.

6. Id..

7. Id.

8. Id.

9. Id.

10. http://www.itri.org.tw/eng/services/incubator/profile.html. Visited on December 12, 2001.

11. http://www.sipa.gov.tw/guide/2000c/02_e.html.  Visited on December 12, 2001.

12. Id.

13. http://www.sipa.gov.tw/seconde/indus-e/indus-e.htm#Anchor01. Visited on December 12, 2001.

14. Id.

15. Id.

16. http://www.sipa.gov.tw/en/seconde/hsip/hsi11000_01.htm. Visited on December 12, 2001.

17. http://www.sipa.gov.tw/guide/2000c/03_e.html. Visited on December 12, 2001.

18. Id.

19. http://www.sipa.gov.tw/guide/2000c/04_e.html. Visited on December 12, 2001.

20. http://www.sipa.gov.tw/guide/2000c/main-03_e.html. Visited on December 12, 2001.

21. http://www.sipa.gov.tw/guide/2000c/05_e.html. Visited on December 12, 2001.

22. http://www.sipa.gov.tw/guide/2000c/06_e.html. Visited on December 12, 2001.