離開
進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 Taiwan supports data center plans in Paraguay
The flags of the Republic of China, left, and Paraguay flutter outside Taiwan’s embassy in Asuncion on April 19, 2023. Photo: Reuters
RARE INVESTMENT: With the partnership welcomed by the US, the investment helps Paraguay justify being part of a US-friendly narrative, a professor said
/ Bloomberg
Taiwan plans to help bring a US$200 million data center to Paraguay, its lone ally in South America, in a rare investment aimed at shoring up the two partners’ diplomatic relationship that is backed by Washington.
Paraguay is hoping to have the data center, which would provide 10 megawatts of computing capacity, operational by the end of next year, officials say. At the same time, the International Cooperation and Development Fund has reached out to Google, Microsoft and Amazon to gauge interest in investing in the project or becoming a customer for its computing capacity, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Taiwan would provide Nvidia chips and other equipment while Paraguay would contribute government land near its capital, Asuncion, cheap hydropower and basic infrastructure, Paraguay’s Information Technology Minister Gustavo Villate said in an interview. He added that both sides are discussing financing with the US International Development Finance Corporation.
An ally since the 1950s, officials in Paraguay have longed griped about a relationship that has reaped few concrete benefits while others in Latin America that switched official recognition received billions of Chinese investment.
With the Trump administration supporting Paraguay and Taiwan, the investment helps President Santiago Pena justify the relationship.
“It shows that Taiwan can seriously help its partner in a modern, sophisticated way,” said Evan Ellis, a professor at the Army War College who focuses on Latin America. “It helps Paraguay be part of a US-friendly narrative of what can be done working together with the Taiwanese,” he added.
Taipei has broadened the scope of aid projects funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ International Cooperation and Development Fund （ICDF） to include artificial intelligence-related initiatives such as the proposed data center in Paraguay.
Taiwan has also boosted trade with Paraguay in the past few years to counter calls from politicians and business groups to embrace China.
Imports of Paraguayan goods rose to US$343 million last year from US$21 million a decade earlier, making Taiwan the country’s fifth-largest export market.
The Pena administration expects to sponsor legislation this year to create a joint venture company split evenly with Taiwan, to be called Yguazu Digital, that would assume ownership of the data center with a view to scale it with the participation of private investors, Villate said in an interview.
Latin America has seen mixed results in the global race to build data centers.
Argentine President Javier Milei pitched his nation’s vast natural resources and colder weather during a Silicon Valley trip two years ago, but his efforts have yet to yield a significant data center investment. Alphabet Inc’s Google opened a major data center in Chile during the 2010s and is building an US$850 million facility in Uruguay.
“This is a very large project with a tremendous impact, not just for Paraguay but for the region as a whole,” Villate said.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
