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Taipei’s case as a semiconductor-business base is primarily about proximity to research talent, corporate partners and a wider Taiwan industry cluster—not about hosting the island’s main fabrication capacity. In an April 2022 EE Times interview, Robert Lo, then executive director of the Invest Taipei Office, argued that a Taipei presence could connect companies to R&D and commercial networks while manufacturing and supplier activity extended across other parts of Taiwan.

Why might a company establish a base in Taipei?

Lo presented Taipei as a place to coordinate research, product development and business relationships within an integrated semiconductor ecosystem. His argument was that foreign companies could work with local firms on cooperation and R&D, and connect research with product development and market verification. He summarized the appeal as “a complete industrial cluster, excellent talent in Taipei, and aiming for the larger Asian market.” Those are the views of a city investment official in a 2022 interview, not an independent comparison of locations. EE Times, April 2022

How does Taipei connect to Taiwan’s wider semiconductor cluster?

The interview described Taipei as a high-value R&D and corporate center, linked to manufacturing and component suppliers elsewhere on the island. It named Neihu Science Park, Nangang Software Park and Nangang Bioinnovation Park as Taipei locations that had attracted domestic and foreign R&D centers. Nearby New Taipei City, Keelung and Taoyuan, along with Hsinchu, were described as satellite locations for manufacturing and component supply; the interview also pointed to supplier capacity in the Hsinchu and Tainan science parks. These are the interview’s 2022 descriptions, not a verified current directory or evidence that every part of the production chain is located in Taipei.

A later example shows continued coordination across Taiwan’s industry, though not specifically in Taipei. SEMI reported that SEMICON Taiwan 2025 included the launch of the 3DIC Advanced Manufacturing Alliance, co-chaired by TSMC and ASE and joined by 37 companies. That dated example supports the existence of industry collaboration; it does not establish current office locations or supplier access in any particular city. SEMI’s account of the alliance launch

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What does the investment statistic show?

EE Times reported that electronics accounted for around 16% of Taiwan’s greenfield foreign direct investment projects in 2019–20, attributing the figure to GlobalData. The original GlobalData publication was not identified, so this is a secondary-source attribution rather than independently verified data. It describes projects during 2019–20; it is not a current investment share, and it does not by itself show how much investment went to Taipei or to semiconductors specifically. EE Times’ report

How should a company evaluate Taipei against other locations?

The case in the interview is strongest for a company whose work benefits from R&D relationships, skilled staff and corporate access, while relying on a broader network for production and supply. Whether Taipei is the right base depends on the company’s actual needs; the cited sources do not provide comparable scores or costs for Taipei versus Hsinchu, Taoyuan or other semiconductor hubs.

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  • R&D access: Identify the specific expertise, institutions and potential partners the team needs, then verify their current locations and availability.
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  • Talent and operating costs: Compare recruitment prospects and total operating costs across candidate locations using current, role-specific information; the interview asserts Taipei has excellent talent but supplies no comparative cost or workforce data.
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Before relying on the interview’s named sites or company-location claims, confirm them with current company and park information. The 2022 account explains the logic of a Taipei base, but it cannot establish present-day occupancy or supplier availability.

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