A business solicitation team from Hsinchu County led by the Magistrate Chiu Ching-Chun engaged in city-city exchange in Markham, Canada on June 10. They were enthusiastically welcomed by Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Canada, Ambassador Wu, Rong-Chuan, Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, Toronto, Director General Catherine Hsu, Y. M. , the mayor of the city of Markham, Frank Scarpitti, and members of the local overseas Chinese community. In his presentation,
Magistrate Chiu said the Greater Hsinchu "7-kilometer High-tech Corridor” work sphere, the No.8 Parking Lot BOT Project and Zhubei Sports Center construction and investment cases, diversified use of National Taiwan University of Science and Technology campus land, and the Industrial Technology Research Institute, Hsinchu Industrial Zone, Taiyuen Technology Park, Hsinchu Science-based Technology Park and the various industrial parks of the bio-medical park every year create 220,000 jobs and output value of NT$2.1 trillion. He invited businesses from Canada to invest in Hsinchu County.
Magistrate Chiu made a special visit to Markham this time, a city known as “Canada’s high-tech capital” to build a friendly relationship between Hsinchu County and Markham and promote high-tech industry cooperation. He signed a bilateral trade cooperation Memorandum of Understanding with Mayor Frank Scarpitti in the Mayor’s Meeting Room and announced the establishment of the Toronto-Taipei Economic and Trade Association which will be headed by Lin, Mei-ling, President of the Taiwan-Canada Economic Trading and Culture Exchange Association. County-city cooperation will be conducted on the basis of fairness and mutual benefit, and will cover economic, culture, trade, high tech, education and other issues, promoting cooperation to facilitate prosperous development and the growth of enterprises on both sides.
In his presentation, Magistrate Chiu specially cited the “economic and employment” items in the 2016 Commonwealth magazine “County/City 8 Major Policy Survey,” saying that, in recent years, Hsinchu has ranked top in Taiwan for net population inflow and the unemployment rate has been the lowest in Taiwan for the last three years. The Uni-President Group has invested NT$18 billion in a new factory in Hukou Township that has recently been completed; Far Eastern is investing NT$9 billion in the No.8 Parking Lot BOT Project which will be completed in 2019; Zhubei People’s Sports Center, will receive NT$418.8 million investment and is planned for completion in early February, 2018 There are also the trillion NT$ Taiwan Knowledge Economy Flagship Park Project, and Hsinchu Biomedical Science Park in which 41 companies have already set up shop; also, the first phase of the Ministry of Health and Welfare –approved China Medical University-affiliated Hsinchu Hospital with 499 beds will be completed in early 2018, raising the level of Hsinchu County’s medical resources and increasing the linkage between technology, bio-tech and medical treatment-related industries, bringing synergy into play and enhancing overall regional development and competitiveness.
Magistrate Chiu said that Hsinchu County is an important international innovative R&D center. During a social gathering of Academia Sinica academicians on May 4, 2016 the idea of using Hsinchu’s urban area as smart city test bed was put forward. The Taiwan High-speed Railway Hsinchu station life sphere, plus National Chiaotung University and National Tsinghua University and the work sphere of the “7-kilometer High-tech Corridor” of Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park” will the demonstration site and the whole plan can then be reproduced in other cities and, in the future, exported.
Magistrate Chiu also told the audience how Hsinchu County had not only reached the Top 21 stage in the ICF intelligent community rankings, but had also reached the Top 7 stage at the first attempt, showing that Hsinchu’s long-term effort to promote digital and information facilities this processes has paid off and that the merger of industry-government-academic-research-medical resources has boosted the county’s economic and innovation momentum.
Culture Center of TECO in Toronto Director, Lee Shu-Ling, Taiwanese Hakka Associations of America President, Li Xing-fu, Taiwanese Hakka Association Of Toronto President, Lu Zhao-qin, China-Canada Cultural and Economic Association Chairman, Lee Li-yu, Taiwan-Canada Economic Trading and Culture Exchange Association President, Lin Mei-ling, and York County councilor Joe Li were also present at the solicitation meeting and gave their affirmation and support.