Formosa Plastics Group (FPG) was founded in 1954 by our two founders who established Formosa Plastics Corporation that year and built Taiwan's first PVC plant—the smallest PVC plant in the world at the time with daily production capacity of just 4 tons. After over 60 years of growth and expansion, FPG has become a conglomerate with assets of almost NT$4 trillion and ventures in the oil refining, petrochemicals, plastics, fibers and textiles, and electronics industries, forming a complete industrial chain, as well as production sites in Taiwan, the United States, China, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia.
The Group encountered numerous severe challenges over its course of development, and was only able to overcome them with the perseverance and efforts of our two founders who laid a solid foundation for FPG's sustainable operation while shaping our corporate culture and establishing the core values of "Diligence, Perseverance, Frugality and Trustworthiness while Striving for Excellence, Sustainable Operation, and Positive Contribution to Society." True to our purpose, FPG's growth has led to the flourishing development of Taiwan's plastics and petrochemicals industries, and contributed significantly to Taiwan's economy and society.
As the saying goes, "It is not easy to start an enterprise and even harder to maintain it." I succeeded our two founders in 2006 and have shouldered the responsibility of business management ever since. From the day I became president of the Group’s Administrative Center, I have upheld the management philosophy of the two founders, and have never wavered even the slightest bit from my commitment to their legacy as I navigated the group through internal and external impacts and challenges. With the joint efforts of our entire workforce, we ultimately lived up to stakeholder expectations and not only achieved a record high business performance, but also continued to enhance our labor safety and environmental protection. Apart from adopting the best available control technology (BACT), in the earlier phases of corporate management we implemented the 5S and a no leakage policy (no gas, water, or oil leakage), and are now conducting cross-company, cross-plant resource integration with respect to raw materials, water resources, energy, and waste in order to achieve energy conservation, emission reduction, and circular economy. Our goal is to not only meet national requirements for environmental protection, but further achieve and even surpass international standards, thereby forging an outstanding enterprise that earns the trust and confidence of shareholders, employees, and our customers.
With regard to social welfare, besides upholding our two founders' philosophy of giving back to the society that has enabled us to grow, we have stayed true to the healthcare and education initiatives of our two founders, and ensured that society continues to benefit according to their original intention. Meanwhile, I myself have further diversified our charitable efforts through means such as funding rehabilitation programs for prison inmates, sponsoring young athletes with potential, offering economic assistance to families of patients with rare diseases or victims of domestic violence, and supporting traditional arts troupes—all of which have enabled us to receive domestic and international recognition.
Companies must persist in upgrades and expansion to maintain their competitiveness, especially in Taiwan's island economy, which is small in scale and lacking in resources. Coupled with the rising awareness of environmental protection in the past decade, businesses face the dilemma of whether or not to continue investing in the domestic market. Therefore, in response to the volatile global environment and after giving comprehensive consideration to all internal and external factors, we chose to invest in the United States, China, and Vietnam, and the benefits of these investments have gradually become apparent over the past decade. With countries around the world encouraging ventures in the manufacturing sector, FPG has also increased its stakes; once expansion projects are completed and begin production in a few years, we are confident overseas investments will yield even more fruitful results.
As we look forward into the future, FPG will continue to uphold the philosophy of "diligence, perseverance, frugality and trustworthiness, while striving for excellence"; conduct internal management with prudence and integrity; direct our efforts towards "higher value," "differentiation," and "internationalization"; and thoroughly implement circular economy. Our production sites will also gradually transition into smart factories under Industry 4.0 as we utilize AI for process optimization, achieving optimal production efficiency and product quality. Going forward, it is our goal to rapidly duplicate this operating model acr¬oss all our sites by comprehensively implementing AI operations, thereby strengthening our long-term competitiveness and ensuring corporate sustainability.
(FPG, Dec. 31, 2022)