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Park Development
The Park has completed all necessary infrastructure systems, including roads, rainwater/sewage drainage system, street lighting system, power and telecommunications systems, water and gas pipelines, and common conduits to meet the needs of Park residents. All piping and cables in the Park are buried underground and common conduits are installed to facilitate management. Landscape design in the Park features six parks and plantations, pedestrian walkways, and eco-lakes. The Park prides itself on more than 40% of green coverage rate, making it a biotech industrial park surrounded by trees and plants.
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Hardware Facilities
(1) Dormitories were completed in December 2008 to provide housing services for Park residents.
(2) The standard plant units of Tiger Village, a one-story building totaling 5,600m2 in area, are now full and leased to 13 companies.
(3) The standard plant units of Dragon Building were completed in June 1, 2010. It is a building with one underground story and four stories above ground. As of May 21, 2012, 26 units have been signed up for by 22 companies.
(4) The Special Animal Vaccine Zone with total floor area of 7,273m2 occupies 2.48 hectares of land. Phase 1, with 3,636m2 of floor area, was completed in June 2010 and turned over to lessee Reber Genetics Co., Ltd.
(5) The water treatment plant commenced construction on February 13, 2009 and was completed on December 21, 2010, and put into service on April 21, 2011.
(6) The Center of Aquaculture R&D and Import began construction on February 18, 2011 and was completed on March 15, 2013. There are 18 plant units in the Center, which are divided by the three types (featured by their functions). As of December 18, 2013, 8 units have been signed up by 7 companies.
(7) A new water tower commenced construction on March 21, 2011, was completed on March 8, 2013, and put into service on May 1, 2013.
(8) The Feiyu Building (where the R&D and the logistics of ornamental fish are conducted) commenced construction on February 8, 2011 and was completed on August 14, 2013.
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Software Facilities
1. A“Logistic Center” providing Park residents and enterprises in the vicinity of the Park with comprehensive warehousing, packaging, sorting, container yard and inspection services will be established by YTOCA, who will invite Customs, the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, and R&D units to be stationed in the center. Such resource integration will help enhance the international competitiveness of Park residents and reduce the costs of inspection at customs clearance.
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Living Amenities
To provide Park residents and neighborhood residents a wide variety of living amenities, ATP has planned and constructed a living zone – Fortune Mall, which is now managed by Timing Fortune Co., Ltd under an operate-transfer (OT) contract. Currently Fortune Mall houses a convenience store, an agricultural and biotech product display area, banquet hall, and restaurants, and will attract more commercial services, such as banks (Bank of Taiwan is going open an office in the Park), law firms (Chien Yeh Law Office), accountants (KPMG), and a post office.
The Operational Mode of Ornamental Fish Industry in Free Economic Pilot Zones
- Left: The Sources of Fish, Bred in ATP, Domestic Satellite Fisheries, Imported from Foreign Countries, Exporting Value-added Products That Meet the Demands of International Market
- Right: Special Zones for Value-added Ornamental Fish in FEPZs, Safety-added (which includes Health Inspection and Quarantine and Disease Diagnosis), Technique-added (which includes Domestication, Breeding Separately, Improving Varieties, and Techniques of Packing and Long-Distance Delivery), and Brand-added (which includes Sorting, Exhibition Marketing, and Placing an Order)
- Bottom (left to right): Customized Factories, Technical Services, University-Industry Collaboration, Bonded Functions, Expedited Customs Clearance, and Developing Air or Shipping Routes
With the rapid development of economies and technology, commercial interaction across countries has become so close that this boosts the expansion of organizations integrating regional economies. For instance, the World Trade Organization (WTO) was founded in 1995, Eurodollar was created in 1999, and the ASEAN Charter was signed by the heads of ASEAN countries in Singapore in 2007. While liberalization is a feature characterizing the global market nowadays, regional trade barriers are nevertheless formed, which heavily impact the competition of industries in the countries involved. To cope with the transitions of international market and enhance economic growth and national competitiveness, Taiwan has been an active participant in cross-national integration, seeking multifarious opportunities for economic cooperation. FEPZs are designed to offer the free movement of goods, people, capital, and techniques, the loosening of administrative measures, and the benefits of tax incentives. In this way, more and more companies are encouraged to apply for residency in FEPZs, and the international market can be broadened. The launch of FEPZs is at the first stage, prior to the proclamation of the Special Act (for FEPZs), with seven free trade ports, including Kaohsiung Port, Keelung Port, Taipei Port, Taichung Port, Suao Harbor, Anping Port, and Taoyuan Aerotropolis and Pingtung Agricultural Biotech Park. The six seaports and one aerotropolis serve as trial places for FEPZs. Among these FEPZs, the Park shoulders the responsibility of developing value-added agriculture. Considering present industrial development and international division of labor, Taiwan has played a key role in the information and communication industries. With more and more attention being paid to the safety and quality of food, there will be unlimited business opportunities for value-added agriculture. It is the very time the processing industries will boom in Taiwan and the very time Taiwan should make sustainable efforts to promote agricultural production.
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●Pingtung Agricultural Biotechnology Park, the top choice for agricultural value-added industries
Located next to the Changjhih Interchange of the National highway No.3 and covering an area of 233 hectares, Pingtung Agricultural Biotechnology Park (hereafter “the Park”) was established by the Council of Agriculture. The Park has convenient transportation, comprehensive infrastructure, vast construction sites and a one-stop window service model integrating administration, business and industry. All these features make the Park a perfect place for investment and the establishment of factories. Up to now, seventy-one agricultural biotechnology businesses have been approved to set up companies in the Park. The industries can be divided into six categories: (1) Natural food industry (Functional food, biotechnological cosmetics, edible and medicinal mushrooms and fungi, etc.); (2) Fish breeding biotechnology (ornamental fish, fish breeding and the peripheral products of aqua life); (3) Biotechnological agriculture resources and materials (biotechnological fertilizers, biotechnological pesticides, nutrient supplement, etc.); (4) biotechnological livestock and poultry industry (animal vaccines, feed additives, probiotics for animal husbandry, etc.); (5) Biotechnological inspection service industries (plant and animal virus inspection, food safety inspection, biotechnological OEM (original equipment manufacturer), etc.); (6) Energy-saving and environmental control facility industries (e.g. the application of solar energy, facilities for developing and generating wind energy).
High-value-added industries in the agricultural biotechnology, such as the complete production system and processing application, are included, covering a wide variety of industrial types. In addition, academic organizations near the Park provide technical support and great vitality. With the abundant resources for industry-academic cooperation, a cluster of agricultural biotechnology industries has been established. The Park has a clear aim, which is to set up a bonded area “inside the country (border) but outside of customs.” In other words, companies set up in the Park import machines, equipment, raw materials, materials, fuel, half-finished products, samples, and finished products with trading approval. All of these can be exempt from import taxes, commodity taxes and business taxes. The process of inspection and custom clearance of imported and exported goods has become quick and easy. In addition, outsourcing makes the whole operational plan more accordant with the trend of trade liberalization and facilitation. The outsourced manufacturing model, “shop on-site, factory off-site,” has promoted the overall development of domestic industries. Thus, the Park has become the top choice for value-added agriculture because of the following features: the promotion of the policy of the free economic pilot zone, the development of value-added agriculture, the cluster effect of the industries, tax incentives and the advantages of flexible operation.
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●Shop on-site, factory off-site. Efficient management. Growth in all industries.
The operating model, “shop on-site, factory off-site,” is a business operating model leading to the loosening of regulations and encouraging innovations. Companies setting up factories in the Park can receive orders and manufacture products on their own. In addition, they also can export the bonded raw materials to the bonded factories and companies in the bonded area for processing and production outside the Park through the outsourced manufacturing model and under the management of the bonded audit system in the Park. The whole procedure uses an electronic account book system to keep track of the status quo of the goods in real time. The remote audit system has greatly loosened the reporting process for goods coming in and going out of the Park. At the same time, without relocation, companies outside the Park also benefit from the open policy for the industries in the Park. As a result, companies inside the Park can lower their operating costs while the problems of acquiring land and limited supplies can also be solved.
The philosophy of Free Economic Pilot Zones (hereafter FEPZs) aims to lift restrictions on goods, loosen regulations, activate economic activities and promote economic development. Therefore, by eliminating the outdated concept of anti-fraud supervision and trade protection barriers, controlled goods are allowed to be imported into the Park for processing, adding value as a special case. While the restrictions are lifted, the Park will also establish a mechanism to control the quality of the controlled goods and remote audit. In this way, the quality, safety and flow of products can be strictly checked, and the processed goods exported to other countries can all be efficiently controlled. In addition, value-added profits can be made without influencing the domestic market, and the international image of MIT products can be maintained. The regulations of the industries in the FEPZs are clear and straightforward, without constraining the enterprises. The vitality of the industries will thus improve. Businesses will also be willing to devote their efforts into research, development and innovations as well as cooperation with industries inside and outside the Park to create value and to increase the competitiveness of the industries. They will take full advantage of Taiwan’s geographic location and technical advancement to compete in the global market.
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●Value-added industries like animal vaccines, ornamental fish, agriculture, fishing and animal husbandry prepare for the future.
With the emergence of the livestock industry in the Asia-Pacific region, and the lower penetration rate of animal vaccine usage, Taiwan can make use of the research and development ability recognized by the international community, and its great technical strength as well as its well-developed innovative platform to facilitate development in the Southeast Asian market. The newly-established Asia-Pacific Operation Center for Aquaculture inside the Park is a professional customized factory for aquaculture. The orange factory decorated with metal shingles shines under the sun. It uses both freshwater and seawater, and establishes a control system for importing and exporting aquatic animals. In addition, personnel from the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine and customs officers are stationed here to facilitate the process of export inspection and quarantine as well as customs clearance. Under efficient control, fish not listed on the import permit list should be allowed to be imported into the Park for quarantine and raising, and then exported as a special case. In this way, industries of ornamental fish are able to provide more fish types and increase their supply capacity to satisfy the overseas customers’ needs for one-stop shopping and to breed new types of fish.
In addition, via the cross-strait exchange platform, the Council of Agriculture is cooperating with China to stipulate common quarantine standards for ornamental fish on both sides of the Strait. It is suggested that the ornamental fish that have been quarantined, raised and given the quarantine proof in the Park can be exempt from quarantine and observation after export to China. At the initial stage, the plan is to choose Shanghai, Guangzhou and Xiamen as the trial airports for quarantine-free locations as well as easy and quick customs clearance. In this way, we can quickly open the China market. Moreover, with the extension of airline routes, the time for delivery of ornamental fish from Taiwan to Central Asia and Russia decreases, helping to make Taiwan become a global production and marketing platform for ornamental fish. In addition, these measures are helpful not only to the export of ornamental fish around the world, but also to the development of the related industries, such as the aquarium life support systems, aquatic plants, fish feed and fish medicine. As a result, these industries can double or redouble their values.
The Park has been included in the FEPZs; controlled agricultural, fishery and livestock products and raw materials are allowed to be imported to Taiwan, and measures like quality inspection, easy and quick customs clearance, and “shop on-site, factory off-site” have been implemented. Because of these incentives, the Park has attracted many large-scale industries processing food, agricultural, fishery and livestock products. The trend to invest and set up factories in the Park is flourishing and still in the ascendant. Businesses stationed in the Park can apply for a special project to import controlled agricultural, fishery and livestock products and raw materials. In addition to this, the Council of Agriculture is helping the farmers in Taiwan to establish contract satellite farms to provide abundant amounts and types of raw materials. The research and development capacity can thus be dramatically expanded. Moreover, niche products can be designed and developed to satisfy the different needs of the markets in different regions. Part of the production process can be done by outsourced manufacturing to flexibly adjust the production capacity. Lastly, high-quality products made in Taiwan can be exported to strive for more orders in the international market.
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●Plans for expanding the development of the Park and the efficiency of value-added agriculture
With the implementation of the special law for the FEPZs, the procedure for foreigners’ visa application has been simplified. A series of tax preferences for foreign professionals have been formally implemented, such as exemption from income taxes for the first three years in Taiwan and from tax filing for income derived abroad. Implementation of the aforementioned measures ensures the exponential growth in the development of the Park. So far, most of the land in the Park has been utilized. To meet the needs for land on which to develop the agricultural value-added industries, a project to expand the dimension of the Park is ongoing, which will include 125-hectares of land around the Taiwan Sugar Corporation.
Nowadays, as the world economy struggles to recover from chaos, the FEPZs are the roads on which the export-oriented Taiwan has to bravely march forward. In order to better the economy, governments in countries like China, Japan, Korean, Malaysia and Brunei have proposed setting up special economic zones in the hope of taking advantage of the changes to create opportunities. In the face of changes in, and challenges from, the global economy, playing a key role in the supply chain is Taiwan’s niche to develop sustainably in the future. Opening the FEPZs helps to connect with the international community, to become qualified to sign Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with other countries, and to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). This measure is also a good plan for maintaining Taiwan’s high industrial competitiveness, and for creating great international business opportunities for the agricultural value-added industries in Taiwan.
FEPZs – Introduction to value-added agriculture
FEPZs – Value-added agriculture – Ornamental fish and peripheral industries