During the visit, initiated by the Ministry of Tourism, the representatives of the company will meet with about 15 Israeli companies that operate in the field of solar energy utilization
The Taiwanese company UMC (United Microelectronics Corporation), the second largest semiconductor manufacturer in Taiwan and one of the largest in the world, will come to Israel next week in order to examine technologies and investments in the solar field in Israel - this is what the commercial attaché of the TMT Ministry in Taipei Ofir Gur said.
The visit was held following an invitation given by the Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications, Orit Noked, to the heads of the company, during an official visit she made to the company's headquarters last November. UMC's visit to Israel is coordinated and organized by the Administration for Foreign Trade at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Commercial Annex in Taiwan and the Export Institute.
The UMC company decided in the last year to expand its business portfolio, and to focus on the field of renewable energies in general, and solar energy based on PV in particular. For this purpose, the company established several subsidiaries, one of which is Next Power, a manufacturer of solar panels. Another subsidiary is Energy EverRich, which specializes in setting up solar projects in China.
The UMC company has an annual turnover of billions of dollars, 10 manufacturing plants and over 12,000 employees worldwide.
Ofir Gur, the commercial attaché of the Ministry of Tourism in Taiwan-Taipei, notes that two senior representatives from the UMC company will arrive in Israel, the company's representatives will focus on searching for Israeli technologies and cooperation with Israeli companies in the field of solar energy based on photovoltaic (PV) cells. The company's representatives will also try to locate Israeli technologies for the solar projects managed by the subsidiary company, EverRich Energy in China, and also examine collaborations with Israeli companies in other markets and future activity in the Israeli market.
Gore further emphasizes that this is a real opportunity for collaboration between Israeli technology companies and a giant company like UMC, which has impressive production capabilities and significant projects all over the world, with an emphasis on China. "The UMC company understood at an early stage the added value that Israeli technologies would give it in the field of solar energy, which it decided to focus on recently."
During the visit, company representatives will meet with about 15 Israeli companies, among others with Zenith Solar, Araba Power, Solaris Energy, Metrolite, Sunday Energy and more.
Trade data - in the first 11 months of 2009, exports from Israel to Taiwan amounted to 413 million dollars, a decrease of 5% compared to the same period in 2008. Imports from Taiwan amounted to 490 million dollars in the first 11 months of 2009, a decrease of 35% compared to the corresponding period in 2008.
