Role of Science Park in the Formation of High Technology Industrial Cluster - Case of Southern Taiwan Science Park

Southern Taiwan Science Park (STSP) is the second science park in Taiwan, formally established in 1996. It is now the home of more than one hundred high technology firms which altogether provide 54,000 job opportunities by the end of 2007, with a total revenue of USD 17.5 billions. Originally targeted as an expansion site for IC industry in Hsinchu Science Park, STSP has emerged since the turn of the millennium as a major opto-electronic industrial cluster in Taiwan, within this, TFT-LCD industry cluster alone accounted for 70% of STSPs revenue and 63% of total employees. IC cluster comes as the second largest industry, biotechnology being the third. All these three industries had not been significant in Tainan area prior to the establishment of STSP, this implies that STSP may have played important role in the formation of these new industries in the region. This article briefly describes the development of STSP major industries, and services provided within the park; then, based on survey of STSP tenants, STSP administration (STSPA) and local HEI and research institutes, provide an explanation of the role and mechanism behind the formation of this regional high tech economy. Our study shows that STSPA, local entrepreneurship, major research universities and incubation services have all participated in the process, and STSPA has been instrumental in pulling all these forces together to produce the synergy effect.