IBM and HDR to Set up Shop at Taoyuan Aerotroplis in Northern Taiwan

According to informed sources, International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) and HDR Group of the USA have decided to set up  shop at Taoyuan Aerotroplis, a proposed urban development at the Taoyuan International Airport in northern Taiwan, to tap smart-traffic and healthcare segments.

The news broke shortly after officials of the Taoyuan City Government and Taiwan's  Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) visited American tech and biotech firms to solicit investments for the plan.

The officials say that many American companies show strong interest in the major urban development plan in Taoyuan proposed so far.

IBM and HDR have reportedly decided to be involved in the project by providing initial  planning of building construction for the smart city, with the  experience gained from the project to enable the two firms to tap the smart city market in other countries.

Informed sources say IBM hopes to win the contract for smart-traffic and smart-healthcare in the Taoyuan project, with HDR having signed memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Taoyuan city government to provide expertise in construction, engineering, and consulting.

Taoyuan city government aims to put HDR's experience in having designed a smart healthcare zone  in Tongzhou District of Beijing to work for the proposed smart city.

MOEA officials mainly visited American biotech companies and an Apple supplier on the recent trip, reportedly having convinced the Apple suppler to move its Asia-Pacific headquarters from China to Taiwan and open an R&D center in Taiwan with total investment of NT$2 billion (US$66.6 million).

The biotech company is reportedly Johnson & Johnson Services Inc., which runs Johnson & Johnson Medical Taiwan and Janssen Pharmaceutica Taiwan. Janssen has chosen the National Taiwan University Hospital as partner in researching and developing new medicine for Hepatitis B with planned expenditure of NT$200 million (US$6.6 million) over  three years.

Johnson & Johnson also aims to  collaborate with the Chang Gung Medical Foundation on healthcare  and take part in the Taoyuan Aerotroplis's smart healthcare  project. (KL)