Shogakukan Inc., Japan’s leading comics publisher, plans to establish a division in Taiwan, its first overseas investment, according to the ROC Ministry of Economic Affairs.
The MOEA’s Export Processing Zone Administration approved the investment project April 29. The firm is targeting the country as a relay post to connect with mainland China and the rest of the Chinese-speaking world.
With an investment of NT$16 million (US$510,130), the publishing conglomerate, best known for its “manga” magazines, or Japanese-style comics, and learning materials targeting elementary school students and teachers, will set up base in southern Taiwan’s Kaohsiung Software Park, a bastion of cloud computing development on the island.
Administration spokesman Dai Ruei-ching said Shogakukan Taiwan plans to work with local companies to develop affordable digital drill systems to assist learning. “The publisher will be the first Japanese company to establish operations in the science park,” Dai said.
“The investment project will initiate a cluster effect to create a ‘central satellite system,’ with software companies within the park designing digital content, and surrounding hardware designers and manufacturers inventing and producing digital readers,” Dai said.
“The project is likely to shift companies inside and around the software park into full gear creating products including Chinese-language DDS materials, ‘green’ books and digital book pockets,” the official said.
This will also lead to Taiwan becoming a major producer and provider of digital education materials in the Chinese-speaking region.
Shogankukan, founded in 1922, boasts an annual turnover of US$333 billion, 64 magazines, 9,200 books and over 4,000 DVDs. It is also the creator of well-known manga characters such as Doraemon, Detective Conan and Pikachu.
According to a memorandum signed between Shogakukan and the Kaohsiung City Department of Education in December 2009, once the firm is open for business in Taiwan, Chinese-language versions of Japan’s latest digital learning materials will be introduced to the city.
Shogakukan Taiwan will open in May and begin operations in June, sources said. (PCT-THN)
Quelle: Taiwan Today