Each autumn, the Ministry of Economic Affairs holds a Taiwan Business Alliance Conference to promote Taiwan’s advantages as a location for foreign investment and to spotlight new business opportunities. This year’s program, held October 7 at the Taipei International Convention Center, included a new wrinkle. For the first time, the Ministry presented an “Economic Contribution Award for Foreign Companies in Taiwan,” recognizing long-term international investors that “have made major contributions to Taiwan’s economic growth and prosperity.”

AmCham Taipei is proud that of the 10 companies given this prestigious award, seven are members of the Chamber. We commend MOEA for calling public attention to the incalculable value that foreign companies bring to this economy in terms of employment, training, R&D, management techniques, market development, and the introduction of innovative technologies.

The Chamber congratulates the seven winners for their achievements:

• Apple Inc. Over the years, Apple has developed deep ties with Taiwan-based industrial supply chains. It works closely with 77 core suppliers to develop new products and engage in electronic product design and R&D activity. Apple also collaborates with its network of suppliers to upgrade product quality and conduct talent training programs.
  
• Applied Materials Taiwan. The supplier of equipment, services, and software partners with its Taiwan customers to advance state-of-the-art semiconductor and display manufacturing. The company maintains two Display Manufacturing Centers and R&D Labs in Tainan, an Asia Continental Distribution Center in Taoyuan, and a Global Technical Learning Center in Hsinchu, as well as four sales and service offices.
  
• Corning Display Technologies Taiwan. Corning has invested more than NT$150 billion (about US$5 billion) in Taiwan, including large glass substrate manufacturing plants in both the Central and Southern Taiwan Science Parks. Research centers are located in Taipei’s Neihu District and within the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) in Hsinchu. The company’s Taipei office serves as Corning Display Technologies’ regional headquarters.
  
• Dell Technologies. The Dell Taiwan Design Center, with more than 1,000 staff, is one of the company’s most important R&D centers around the world. It works closely with Taiwanese partner companies in the R&D of products from laptops to servers, as well as on recycling solutions in support of circular economy goals. Dell reports that its cumulative purchases from Taiwan have exceeded US$20 billion in value.
  
• Merck. Headquartered in Germany, Merck is an example of the international nature of AmCham Taipei’s membership. The leading multinational pharmaceutical company utilizes Taiwan as a major R&D center in Asia, and has cooperated with ITRI to establish a Biopharma R&D and Training Program.
  
• Micron Technology. With over 8,000 employees, Micron describes itself as the largest foreign company in Taiwan. The memory and storage product manufacturer operates advanced fabrication facilities in Taichung and Taoyuan, a backend facility in Taichung, and a sales and technical support office in Taipei. It has helped build Taiwan into the world’s number-one DRAM hub cluster. 
  
• Synopsys Inc. A leading specialist in design software technology for the electronics and semiconductor industries, Synopsys maintains its Asia Pacific operations headquarters in Taiwan, as well as a 550-engineer R&D team. Together with five Taiwanese universities, it this year launched the AIoT Design Lab for industry-academia cooperation.

AmCham Taipei takes pleasure in noting that outstanding companies such as these have found a nurturing investment environment in Taiwan, and that their contribution has received public recognition.