Taiwan has begun construction of a new industrial park in Kaohsiung that will devote part of its footprint to advanced semiconductor packaging equipment and suppliers, as the island expands capacity around technologies increasingly important to artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.
The Kaohsiung City Government said the Baipu Industrial Park covers 88.73 hectares, including about 53 hectares of industrial land. Around 25 hectares are being positioned for advanced back-end semiconductor equipment and related supply-chain companies.
Reuters reported that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. plans two facilities at the site: a technology-validation laboratory and a talent-training center. The facilities are expected to begin operations in the fourth quarter of 2029.
Advanced packaging gains strategic importance
Advanced packaging has become a critical part of the semiconductor stack as AI accelerators and high-performance computing systems increasingly combine multiple dies, memory and other components within tightly integrated packages. That has raised the importance of packaging equipment, materials, validation and manufacturing capacity alongside leading-edge wafer fabrication.
At the groundbreaking ceremony, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said the park would help accelerate testing and validation of advanced packaging equipment and materials and support the transition of new technologies toward mass production.
The Kaohsiung government said demand from AI applications, high-performance computing, data centers and AI servers is helping drive the region’s industrial transition. It pointed to an emerging semiconductor corridor that includes advanced process manufacturing in Nanzih, packaging and testing in Renwu, and materials and key components in Qiaotou.
Building out southern Taiwan’s chip cluster
The new park complements TSMC’s existing expansion at the nearby Nanzih Technology Industrial Park. The broader strategy is designed to bring manufacturing, packaging, equipment suppliers, materials companies and technical services closer together in southern Taiwan.
More than 20 semiconductor-related supply-chain companies were expected to take part in the Baipu groundbreaking, according to the city government.