TAIPEI: The number of furloughed workers at Taiwan's three major science parks continues to decline, as the island's economy seems to have bottomed out, the "National Science Council" said yesterday.

The total number of workers on unpaid leave at the Hsinchu Science Park, Southern Taiwan Science Park and Central Taiwan Science Park had dropped significantly to 1,032 as of December 1. That's down 99 percent from the record high of 132,414 posted in January, the science council said in a report to the Executive Yuan.

"Premier" Wu Den-yih attributed the encouraging trend primarily to a series of stimulus measures that the administration has taken over the past year to boost businesses at the three leading science parks.

The measures included halving management fees the science council charges firms operating at the science parks and promoting projects aimed at upgrading R&D capabilities of the parks, Wu said.

He also exhorted the administrations of the three science parks to accelerate planning for the construction of new, eco-friendly science parks around Taiwan, including a biomedical park in Hsinchu County, a new science park in Yilan County, a science park in Tongluo, Miaoli County, the Erlin science park in Changhua County and the Chung Hsing New Village high-end research park in Nantou County.

"Equal importance should be given to production and environmental protection to achieve sustainable development" in Taiwan while striving for industrial competitiveness, he said.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 12/18/2009 page2)