TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — German science firm Merck opened a major tech campus in Kaohsiung, marking the group’s largest single global investment in its electronics technology unit.

The new Kaohsiung campus spans 150,000 square meters and will focus on key materials for next-generation logic, memory and AI chips, per CNA. It will operate alongside Merck’s Kaohsiung Plant 1 to strengthen local manufacturing, per TVBS.

Merck Board Vice Chair Kai Beckmann said the facility reflects the company’s plan to meet rising AI-driven materials demand and deepen its presence in Taiwan’s chip ecosystem. He said Merck aims to boost resilience by producing more technology materials locally amid global geopolitical risks.

Merck Taiwan Chair Li Chun-lung (李俊隆) said Taiwan leads the world in foundry production and chip packaging and testing, and ranks second in IC design. However, he noted that upstream materials remain insufficient, a gap Merck hopes to fill through expanded local supply.

Merck said the first-phase construction at the Southern Taiwan Science Park is now complete. The project is the company’s first large-scale semiconductor materials campus worldwide, built over five years with an NT$18.26 billion (US$581.5 million) investment covering thin-film technology and specialty gases.

The company expects the campus to create more than 150 high-tech jobs and support Taiwan’s competitiveness in advanced manufacturing.