A New High-Tech Equipment Center in Taiwan

Over 60% of semiconductors and all flat panels are now manufactured in Asia, and Taiwan, thanks to its vitality and competitiveness, has been able to secure a significant part of this business. The Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP) located in Taichung, in the centre of Taiwan, is a 500 hectare industrial park housing next-generation manufacturing facilities belonging to leading players in the high-tech industry. Since CTSP was opened in July 2003, companies have announced almost €40 billion of investments in the park, making CTSP a vital center fuelling the growth of the optoelectronics and semiconductor sectors.

Therefore, Air Liquide Electronics has decided to invest in a new equipment assembly center in the Central Taiwan Science Park at Taichung, aimed at serving the electronics industry. This new division will be called Air Liquide Electronics Systems Asia (ALES Asia), and will complement the Air Liquide Electronics Systems (ALES) equipment design and manufacturing site located near Grenoble, France. ALES Asia will be devoted entirely to assembling distribution equipment for the extremely high-purity fluids used in electronics and flat panels manufacturing. With this investment, Air Liquide will be even closer to its customers and better-positioned to seize growth opportunities in this vibrant market.

This new investment in Asia also illustrates the Group’s desire to become a more active player in Taiwan’s electronics sector, by providing high-purity fluids – for example, through the Jumbo system that offers extremely pure, reliable, and competitive bulk specialty gases – as well as equipment for distributing these fluids through ALES Asia.

Christophe Fontaine, Vice President Electronics, Air Liquide Group, stated: “These new investments in Asia support our recent sales wins, especially in Taiwan, where leaders in the electronics industry, such as AUO, CMO, etc. have put their trust in Air Liquide. ALES’ skills in equipment design and manufacture, combined with our local presence through Air Liquide Far Eastern, enhance our offer and credibility in Taiwan, and more broadly across the entire Asian high-tech market.”