The National Science and Technology Council set up an AI Special Zone in Shalun Green Energy Science City to promote AI industry development in Taiwan. On January 3rd, Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che accompanied President Lai Ching-te to the Information Security and Smart Technology R&D Building in Shalun for the launching ceremony of the Greater Southern New Silicon Valley Campaign and Investment Promotion for the AI Innovation Application Building. This event marks the inauguration of the Greater Southern Silicon Corridor.
President Lai Ching-te remarked that he is happy to see that his successor has carried on the city policies and that the Shalun Green Energy Science City, which Lai helped to establish while he was Tainan’s mayor, is now demonstrating such accomplishments thanks to the collaborative efforts of the central government, legislators, and the Tainan City Government. Transforming Taiwan into an AI island was one of the targets mentioned in his inauguration speech, and Taiwan already has numerous advantages in a number of areas when it comes to AI development. Lai hopes that the Greater Southern Silicon Corridor will enhance Taiwan’s competitiveness and expand its global market.
The Shalun Green Energy Science City has strong R&D and technology capacities, said Mayor Huang Wei-che. With resources from the National Applied Research Laboratories (NARLabs), Academia Sinica, and ITRI as well as National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University and National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), this is an important hub for smart technology and net zero transition in Taiwan. In addition to being designated by the central government as an AI industry development center, Shalun Green Energy Science City also attracted several high-tech businesses, such as AMD and Tokyo Electron Limited (TEL), to establish offices here, demonstrating its potential to quickly become the Greater Southern New Silicon Valley. Huang thanked the central government for their strong support and stated that the local government is committed to enhancing infrastructure so that related businesses and R&D can realize their full potential.
According to the Tainan City Government, Tainan has recently become a major player in technology and industry development, particularly due to the semiconductor industry’s convergence effect in Southern Taiwan Science Park, which has made the city a significant link in the global industrial chain. Semiconductor heavyweights such as TSMC and UMC as well as many international semiconductor equipment manufacturers including ASML, Lam Research (US), TEL (Japan), and Ebara (Japan) all have locations in the Park. The Shalun Green Energy Science City, another important driving force, works closely with major national industry policies and attracts businesses and academic institutions from fields such as information security, space, quantum science, smart transportation, net zero technology, smart agriculture, and smart medical care. This year (2025), major global manufacturer AMD also arrived in the Science City.