TAIPEI, June 7 Asia Pulse – Japan's Canon Inc. (CAJ) , the world's biggest camera maker, began construction Sunday of a new plant in central Taiwan to meet higher demand for the company's products.
Market analysts believe that the combined investment in the new plant, along with another slated to begin construction in August, will exceed NT$30 billion (US$1.05 billion), according to local media reports.
Canon will invest NT$11 billion in its new factory in the Taichung Export Processing Zone, with construction slated to be completed by the end of next May.
The Taichung plant will begin production in the second half of next year, employing 3,000 workers.
Rising demand for digital single-lens-reflex cameras in recent years prompted the company to decide last year to expand its production in Taiwan, the reports said.
Since the establishment of its first Taiwanese branch in the zone 40 years ago, Canon has brought both capital and technology to the country, making central Taiwan a hub for the optics industry, said Canon Taiwan Chairman Kenji Yoshida at a ground-breaking ceremony for the new plant.
The other plant, scheduled to begin construction in August, will be located in the Chiayi Dapumei Intelligent Industrial Park in southern Taiwan.
Construction of that plant will be completed in July 2012 and once operational, it will require 3,000-4,000 employees, the reports said.
thanks Jim
cr