Taiwan's Science Ministry Funding Warning

By Wen-Yee Lee
TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan’s science ministry issued a warning on Friday regarding potential funding cuts of T$20 billion ($609.11 million) for sectors including semiconductors, AI, and aerospace due to opposition party legislation.

The opposition, which holds a parliamentary majority, passed a bill last week to redirect funds from the central government to local municipalities, an action that faced strong criticism from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and sparked protests.

The Ministry of Science and Technology’s caution follows a prior alert from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, which noted that collaborations with tech firms like Micron (NASDAQ:MU), AMD (NASDAQ:AMD), and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) might suffer due to potential budget shortfalls affecting Taiwan’s international AI partnerships.

Projected cuts for the economic ministry stand at T$29.7 billion for the following year, including T$11.6 billion specifically for technology projects. Micron, being Taiwan's largest foreign direct investor, along with AMD and Nvidia, have sought government support for technology collaboration initiatives.