Kaohsiung mayoral candidate Lai Jui-lung urged NVIDIA, AMD, and Taiwan's central government on October 12 to bypass Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an's plan to turn Songshan Airport into an AI hub and invest instead in Kaohsiung's Asia New Bay Area, arguing the southern port city can offer land, power, and talent today rather than a decade from now.
Lai, a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator running to succeed Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai, made the pitch at a press conference he billed as "AI Zones Don't Need to Wait for Songshan: The Industry's Future Is in the Asia New Bay Area." His target was a proposal by Chiang, of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT), to relocate Taipei's downtown Songshan Airport and redevelop the site as a dedicated AI district.
Lai Says Songshan Relocation Would Take a Decade
Lai said assessing and carrying out the airport's relocation would take at least 10 years, a timeline he argued the AI industry cannot afford. With global AI competition now measured in seconds, he said, the industry simply has no room to wait.
By contrast, he said, Kaohsiung began preparing the Asia New Bay Area, a waterfront redevelopment zone along the city's harbor, roughly 10 years ago. Lai compared the effort to the city's earlier campaign to win investment from chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), saying the bay area "is already a reality now."
590 Hectares Ready Under the Five-Layer Cake Model
Lai framed his case around NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang's "five-layer cake" description of the AI industry, in which land and electricity form the foundation. On land, he said the Asia New Bay Area covers 590 hectares with planning already complete, so companies could move in at any time.
He added that 58 hectares at the neighboring site of the military's 205th Arsenal have already been vacated, giving the city room to expand quickly. The combined area, he said, could host a full cluster of AI facilities, office towers, research centers, housing, and parks.
Kaohsiung Claims 134% Power Self-Sufficiency Versus Taipei's 2%
Electricity, a growing concern for data center operators in Taiwan, was the centerpiece of Lai's comparison. He said Kaohsiung's Nanbu, Hsinta, and Talin power plants give the city an electricity self-sufficiency rate above 134%, enough to meet the heavy demand of AI computing centers and still supply other parts of Taiwan.
Taipei, he said, generates only about 2% of the power it uses. "How is Taipei going to supply the enormous amount of electricity that future computing centers will need?" Lai asked.
NT$13.2 Billion Talent Pipeline and Airport Links Back the Pitch
On talent, Lai said the Executive Yuan, Taiwan's cabinet, has committed NT$13.2 billion (about US$410 million) to industry-academia training programs in Kaohsiung. The initiative links National Tsing Hua University, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, National Sun Yat-sen University, and National University of Kaohsiung to build a pool of semiconductor and AI engineers.
He also pointed to transport. The Asia New Bay Area is three metro stops from Kaohsiung International Airport and five stops from the high-speed rail station in Zuoying, Lai said. Planned upgrades, including a new airport terminal, a proposed 24-hour offshore airport, National Freeway No. 7, and the metro's Red and Yellow lines, would make the district easier to reach for international technology workers.
One Airport, Three Centers Vision Puts Bay Area at the Core
Lai said the Asia New Bay Area sits at the heart of the "one airport, three centers" blueprint he has developed with Chen. He called on the central government and global technology firms to speed up their plans and said Kaohsiung would welcome NVIDIA, AMD, and other leading companies to set up computing and research and development centers in the city.
The goal, Lai said, is to make Kaohsiung the hub of Taiwan's next generation of core industries.
Original Article In Chinese: 酸蔣萬安拋松機改建AI專區「至少等10年」 賴瑞隆喊話輝達、超微：直接進駐高雄亞灣