Why so much cash is flowing into Taiwan's chip industry

摘要

Taiwan is awash with cash. Years of high economic growth have produced a currency reserve of $94 billion, while the postal savings systems has amassed deposits totalling $65.4 billion. Much of the cash is being funneled into building a broad-based chip industry. Over $12 billion is earmarked for new wafer fabs currently under construction or in the planning stage (see chart). All will process eight-inch wafers with submi-cron technology, and all but one are scheduled to be completed by 1998. In addition, at least four other LCD fabs are under construction.