The petrochemical industry is a key heavy industry which influences people's lifestyles in many ways, and pushing for value-added development of the industry has been made an important government policy, Premier Sean Chen said today.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) had briefed Chen on the progress of its development program for value-added petrochemicals. The premier said the country is now at a critical juncture for industrial innovation and transformation, and petrochemicals is one of 10 key industries targeted for such development through 2020 by the MOEA following the Statute for Industrial Innovation.
According to the Statute for Industrial Innovation, central competent authorities should formulate development directions and plans for industries under their oversight. The premier has requested every agency consult the MOEA's cases and quickly come up with their own.
Chen expects the MOEA to continue publicizing its industrial development policies and to establish a cross-agency platform and office to promote the measures it is implementing. He instructed it to advocate for and clarify its petrochemical policies in order to attract investment in the industry.
The premier also instructed the Environmental Protection Administration, the MOEA, the National Science Council and other relevant ministries to present the Executive Yuan experience-based ideas for reforms to the environmental impact assessment system that take both environmental and economic circumstances into account.
The MOEA said that through its petrochemical development plan, related government programs and resources will be integrated to provide the environment and services the industry needs to succeed. Innovative energy is therefore applied to drive high-value petrochemical product development, strengthening the industry's links up-, mid- and downstream and bolstering its creativity and competitiveness as well as that of its downstream partners, the MOEA said.
About NT$600 million (US$21 million) will be directly invested annually to encourage joint research and development (R&D) in high value-added products by petrochemical companies. A promotional office will be established to bring the Industrial Technology Research Institute, the Plastics Industry Development Center and relevant legal research institutions together to help improve product quality.
The MOEA said that as of this October, it had completed 43 project blueprints, formed six industry alliances with 231 businesses signing up to participate and established nine R&D alliances of businesses in the industry's up-, mid- and downstream segments. It had also helped companies bid to establish five R&D centers and set up four technologies for functional verification platforms.
The MOEA also has held a networking meeting between experts in value-added petrochemicals from northern Taiwanese academic institutions, established an online platform for promoting value-added petrochemicals and presented 23 market and technology professional assessment reports of project blueprints. It sends relevant businesses a quarterly e-bulletin, as well.
With the MOEA's help, private investment in petrochemical-related businesses has reached NT$85.8 billion (US$2.94 billion). The MOEA has grasped nine potential investment cases worth a total of NT$40 billion (US$1.4 billion).
The Chinese Petroleum Corporation has invested NT$285 million (US$9.8 million) in a green technology research center and new materials testing and certification center to create a high value-added research, development and application center. It estimates it will invest NT$2.3 billion (US$78 million) in this project by the end of 2016.