President Tsai Ing-Wen Acknowledged Ta Ya Group's Green Ambition and Business Transformation Efforts
2016/11/07
In the afternoon of the 5th, President Tsai Ing-Wen was accompanied by Tainan City Mayor Lai Ching-Te to a visit at Ta Ya Group's Guanmiao headquarter. President Tsai acknowledged the progress that Ta Ya Group has made in regards to green products and green electricity, and said that both the local government and businesses will play very important roles in green energy. The president went on to say that Taiwan's industry transformation will succeed only if contribution is made by everyone involved.
President Tsai's visit was welcomed by Group Chairman Shen Shang-Hung and President Shen San-Yi. At the headquarter lobby, Chairman Shen Shang-Hung briefed President Tsai on the efforts that Ta Ya Group had made in regards to solar power plant, then showed her how the system operates through the monitoring system.
Chairman Shen said in his speech: "Over the last 61 years since Ta Ya was founded, we have benefited from the growth of Taiwan's economy and made contributions in return. In addition to creating employment opportunities, we have also made significant technology advancements, such as building Asia's longest 345kV extra high voltage power cable." It has long been the company's policy to strengthen its foothold in Taiwan and expand into the rest of the world. "The company began constructing factories in China in 1993, but it closed none of its existing factories in Taiwan. From 1995 onwards, the company created new offices in southern and northern Vietnam, and later became the first foreign company to be listed for trading in Vietnam." said Chairman Shen with pride. The Vietnam offices will also be used as the frontier for southbound expansion in the future. In terms of future prospects, Chairman Shen said that business transformation is not an easy path, but as President Tsai had put it: "No matter how tough the challenge and pressure is, we must be patient and persistent about what needs to be done, because it is the right direction forward."
Next, Vice President Chuang, Pa Kuei of Ta Ya's Energy & Telecom Cable Business Group explained to President Tsai about Ta Ya's business groups, green products, renewable energy establishments, and corporate social responsibilities using a presentation titled "Ta Ya's Transformation and Practice in 60 Years." Ta Ya was the first local cable manufacturer to adopt lead-free production. Its unique Green Wire design had won the 1st "Green Classics Award" from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the 2014 EPIF Green Mark Award. Ta Ya recently shifted its investment focus towards renewable energy. So far the company has constructed solar energy plants totaling 8MW in capacity, and plans to expand by 10MW per year, 50MW over 5 years. Meanwhile, the company has joined the Wind-Team and developed submarine cables as a means to support the government's vision of a nuclear-free homeland by 2025.
Director General Fang Jin-Cheng of Tainan City Government Bureau of Economic Development then delivered a briefing on "Current State and Future of Tainan as a Photovoltaic City." Fang Jin-Cheng said: "Driven by the vision of building Tainan as a low-carbon, sustainable, and high-tech city, the city began a Photovoltaic City project back in 2011 and will be seeing 210MW of solar capacity built by the end of the year, which almost equals to Tsenwen Power Station's annual capacity." The city government will continue to encourage installation of power plants in the future, including the use of salt industry lands, barren lands, landfill sites, and floating solar power systems. The city government expects to increase another 220MW of solar power capacity over the next two years.
"Ta Ya Group has been an A-player whether in terms of solar power or cable manufacturing and research, which was why the President was invited to bear witness to the nation's pride." said Mayor Lai. "Tainan City Government has accepted its mission to develop the green energy part of President Tsai's new industrial policy. In the future, the city government will be working closely with district representatives, the city council and industry participants to fully support the President's policies."
President Tsai said: "Ta Ya Group has demonstrated strong business ambition and the utmost respect to corporate responsibilities. Ta Ya is a significant manufacturer in Taiwan's cable industry. Not only does it possess the capacity to produce extra high voltage cables and magnet wires, it received many environmental and green certifications as well. Apart from its success in the cable business, Ta Ya has also been active in exploring opportunities for business persification and transformation. The company serves as a good example to many high-tech manufacturers in Taiwan."
President Tsai further pointed out that Taiwan's first "zero-carbon architecture" - the "Magic School of Green Technologies" located within National Cheng Kung University" - was constructed using Ta Ya's environmental-friendly cables. This appealing, energy-saving green architecture offers several environmental-friendly features including absence of lead, while signifies the company's successful attempt at green energy besides cable manufacturing, and the viability of solar energy as a green factory solution. Starting from its own rooftop, the company is building up competitiveness through stable and safe green energy
"Ambition of local businesses and local government's support to future industries are what Taiwan needs the most." said President Tsai. She then emphasized the importance of Shalun Green Energy Science City to the next generation of industries, and said: "Shalun will see occupants such as research institutions and modern businesses. It is a crucial industrial project at this juncture, one that requires the utmost wisdom and persistence to realize. I would like everyone to support the project that will be helping us progress to the next generation."
The President's visit was accompanied by: Director Chen Tsung-Yen of Tainan City Government Bureau of Civil Affairs, Deputy Secretary Li Junyi of Democratic Progressive Party, Legislators Wang Ting-Yu, Chen Ting-Fei, Yeh Yi-Jin and Huang Wei-Che, and Tainan City Councilor Lin I-Chin.