臺北產經資訊網

Startup hubs not only reduce entrepreneurship costs but also serve as a magnet for talent, capital, and entrepreneurs. The formation of perfect startup clusters is highly conducive to their further development. No other city in Taiwan has more startup hubs on such a large scale. Five of these Startup hubs recently inaugurated clusters have unique characteristics which have drawn wide attention and are worth further exploration.

The Taipei City Government has actively invested in the development of innovation and entrepreneurship in the city, such as promoting entrepreneurial consulting and mentoring, talent cultivation, capital injection, and business incubation. It is also actively consolidating multi-dimensional resources to help local startups integrate with the global market. Bolstered by its achievements over the past few years, the City Government held the “2020 Taipei International Startup Week,” aimed at establishing business-friendly innovation and entrepreneurship activities and promoting close collaboration between Taipei City and the global startup scene. The “t.Hub” BOT development project, the largest startup incubation base in Taiwan, officially opened its doors to budding entrepreneurs on November 27, 2020. It has become a major highlight of Taipei's innovation scene this season by connecting startups with the well-established industry clusters of Neihu Technology Park into a mutually supportive startup-industry ecosystem. In a fiercely competitive startup market, It is hoped that the synergies from such collaborations will strengthen the momentum of enterprises in Taipei.

Due to the impact of the pandemic on the global economy, recessionary pressures are fierce, consumer purchasing power is shrinking considerably in all countries, and financial risks are mounting. In the face of this economic crisis and recession, governments all over the world have successively adopted relief policies to shorten economic recovery times. The Taipei City Government has implemented various relief measures at the beginning of the year. Policy tools and relief resources are utilized to assist enterprises in the transformation process, facilitate the development of innovative, zero-contact business models, and enhance their competitiveness in the field of cross-border e-commerce, with the ultimate goal of warding off the impact of the pandemic by joining hands with local businesses. In preparation for the post-pandemic era, the city government continues to optimize digital service offerings and expands data access and application in the field of municipal administration to accelerate the transition of a future government with a digital ecosystem. In the latter half of the year, a series of industrial transformation forums will be organized to identify the “new normal” of future industrial development in cooperation with local enterprises.

“Design Taipei; Dream Taipei” is an urban brand image actively cultivated by Taipei City. It also serves as an action plan for the promotion of the design industry and urban evolution. The ultimate goal is to turn Taipei City into a creative convergence platform with a design vision.

Taipei City Government has adopted circular economy concepts as the foundation of its future administrative policies to realize a “Circular Taipei.” The goal lies in the gradual achievement of sustainable development in the four major dimensions of environment, society, economy, and culture. Taipei City Government aims to promote recycling and regeneration of urban resources, encourage lifestyles based on sharing concepts, create opportunities for industrial innovation and transformation, and intensify educational efforts to promote circular economy concepts. The government takes the initiative in assisting industries and expanding public participation with the goal of turning Taipei City into a new hotspot in the field of circular economy promotion in Asia and worldwide.

Industrial transformations driven by development of emerging technologies have sparked a wave of startups in metropolitan areas all over the world. Taipei City is a conglomerate of industries, resources, and talent with a vibrant climate of entrepreneurship. Taipei City Government has been organizing “Taipei International Startup Week” since 2016 to assist startup teams in the linkage to international entrepreneurial resources and opening up of new markets. The goal lies in the creation of a sound startup ecosystem to provide the best environment for startups and entrepreneurship in Asia. The 2018 Taipei International Startup Week was held with great fanfare from November 13-18, 2018. This year’s activities were centered around the core theme of “Leap Up! Opening Up New Horizons”. The following five main events formed the backbone of the 2018 International Startup Week: StartUP@Taipei Global Linkage Forum, StartUP@Taipei Demo Day, StartUP@Taipei XR Summit, StartUP@Taipei Pavilion and Pop Up Asia. The goal of these events and activities was to demonstrate the rich innovative potential in diverse areas, catapult local entrepreneurs onto an international stage, and help create new economic models for the future.

Currently, Taipei City Government has come up with a plan to have 22 locations built as the startup base. The total area covers 630,000 square meters. Among them, 8 out of 22 of these bases were officially launched already. In the future, the government will keep working on integrating the resources from each bureau or division to industrial resources. It provides all the required funds, incentives and subsidies, talent cultivation, spaces, showcase area for exchange, investment matchmaking, instructor’s escort, and other all-in-one consulting service that an entrepreneur may need during each stage of his or her career life. It allows plenty of creative ideas to be realizable through introducing diversified industrial clusters to attract more domestic and foreign entrepreneurs to move into Taipei City and make their dreams come true. Hopefully, it can create an image for the Taipei City to become the top choice of global startups one day.

Taipei City Government is dedicated to applications and transformation of new technology, and actively fosters the development of innovative startups. Department of Economic Development, Taipei City Government works closely with Business Next and other units to host the 4th Future Commerce, which took place in the Taipei Expo Park-Expo Dome from April 26 to April 28, 2018. It’s possible to foresee the new look of future businesses through the four theme sectors and top 10 blocks. To help startup companies engage in R&D in emerging technology, the Department of Economic Development, Taipei City Government has launched the “StartUP@Taipei Office” and “Investment Taipei Office” to offers one-stop startup and investment consultancy and consulting, and provides real incentives through Project of Subsidies & Incentives for Taipei Industry. Starting from March, 2011 up to May, 2018, enterprises were driven to invest more than 20.9 billion in innovations, and offer 8,934 jobs. In addition, Taipei City has been proactive in the startup trend. More than 1,500 foreign startup companies moved to Taipei City during 2015-2017 each year, about 2,000 domestic startup companies have joined the activities here.