SRAM Corporation, a major manufacturer of bicycle parts, has been deeply involved in Taiwan for more than 30 years. It will invest NTD 10 billion to integrate and build a new plant in the Tanzi District of Taichung. Accompanied by the former General Manager of Asia Region, Si-Xiang Gao, Jeffrey Winterkorn, Vice General Manager of the Global Manufacturing Department, led Joao Pires, Director of Manufacturing in Asia, and Hong-Yi Chen, General Manager of Asia, visited the Taichung Municipal Government on this (3) day. Shiow-Yen Lu, the mayor, said that Gao, the former General Manager of Asia, was the first economic development director since she took office. She believed that with his assistance, communication between the city government and SRAM would be very smooth, and the city government would fully support SRAM’s construction.
Mayor Lu pointed out that with the former Director General Gao laying a good foundation, the city government is confident in providing good services. The weather is stable, and the quality of citizens in Taichung is high in Taichung, which is conducive to business operations. In addition, three of the group's four strongholds are located in Shengang, and most of its employees are local residents. Tanzi District is very close to Shengang District, and the city government subsidizes the first 30 minutes of Taichung YouBike for free. Currently, there are more than 1200 stops. The city government will give priority to setting ones in important transfer points and places with high public traffic. If the group is willing, the mayor suggested that the government could set up a stop near the integrated factory to encourage employees to use public transportation to save energy and reduce carbon emissions. If there is a recruitment plan, the operator can also contact the Labor Affairs Bureau, which will provide individual manufacturers with substantial labor demand. For example, a while ago, the wind power company set up factories and other talent recruitment services, and the bureau has helped the citizens to obtain employment smoothly.
According to the Vice General Manager of the Global Manufacturing Department, Jeffrey Winterkorn, the factories in various parts of Taichung will be integrated into the new Tanzi factory and an R&D center will be established, making the Taichung manufacturing center ready to expand globally in the future. Chen, General Manager of Asia, indicated that SRAM Corporation is the second-largest supplier of bicycle parts. Now, there are four factories in Taichung, which are Taiwan Branch Headquarters (Shengang), Asian Development Center (Xitun), and Fengzhou First and Second Factory (Fengzhou Industrial Park). The group has confidence in the overall investment environment of Taichung's location and geographical conditions, mature upstream and downstream supply chains, and talent quality. Therefore, the group invested about 10 billion to build a new factory in Tanzi.
Gao, former General Manager of Asia Region, added that SRAM Corporation currently has 4,065 employees in Taiwan. The NTD 10 billion-investment project will integrate the scattered factories, and the group decided to stay in Taiwan and hire locals.
Feng-Yuan Chang, Director of the Economic Development Bureau, said that the production value of Taiwan's bicycle industry had hit new highs due to the epidemic in the past two years and the trend towards net zero carbon emissions. SRAM Corporation has offices in 16 countries around the world. This time, Tanzi's 10-billion new factory has integrated all the manufacturing processes in Taiwan, forming a complete bicycle parts supply chain. The government expects it to promote the development of relevant employment and upstream and downstream industrial chains and improve industrial competitiveness.
The Economic Development Bureau added that good news came from the beginning of this spring that 11 of the latest economic indicators in Taichung won the championship. Coupled with the frequent heavyweight investment cases, enterprises favor the economic outlook. The accumulated investment has reached NTD 271.6 billion since Mayor Lu took office in 2008. Among them, the amount of investment in Taiwan's three major programs exceeded NTD 300 billion, 265 of which were approved to be the first in Taiwan and created more than 23000 jobs. The enterprise-establishing promotion working group of the city government will continue to provide strong support for enterprise investment, create a good investment environment for enterprises, and realize the three economic visions in the rich city of Taichung.
Mayor Lu led the Secretary-General, Chong-Dian Huang, the Director of the Economic Development Bureau, Feng-Yuan Chang, and the Chief of Staff of the Taichung City Industrial Development and Investment Promotion Committee, Yu-Shan Huang, to jointly receive today's visit. There was a lively exchange between hosts and guests at the scene.