American tech giant Microsoft Corp. will hire about 100 professionals in Taiwan in 2021 to expand its research and development efforts in the country, the company said in a statement issued Friday.

Microsoft said the company sees Taiwan as a global R&D base focused on developing key new technologies, and is determined to help Taiwanese businesses apply forward-looking know-how to improve their operations.

Expressing its faith in Taiwan’s strong integration of hardware and software systems and its diversified talent pool, Microsoft said it will recruit 100 professionals with an eye toward advanced artificial intelligence (AI) technologies such as computer vision (helping computers see and process images) and user intent.

They will also work on peripheral devices for Azure, the company’s cloud computing service.

The newcomers will work for Microsoft’s Azure Maps division, Data Annotation division, Devices Software & Quality Organization, and Azure Hardware System & Infrastructure team, the company said.

Microsoft’s R&D team is currently responsible for developing components, hardware systems, firmware, servers, platforms and other core and advanced technologies, the company said.

It is also involved in basic data analysis so that as the tech ecosystem grows, Taiwan will be able to have a hand in innovations worldwide, the company added.

In 2018, Microsoft set up an AI R&D center in Taiwan, which has teamed up with some Taiwanese organizations, including contract electronics maker Wistron Corp. and Taipei Veterans General Hospital, to form a strategic partnership, a move expected to enhance Taiwan’s AI technologies.

Michael Chang (張仁炯), director of the Microsoft Taiwan R&D Center, said in the statement that Microsoft is accelerating the pace at which it is introducing its core and critical technologies in Taiwan and having its Taiwan R&D team develop those technologies.

They include manufacturing certification, software design, technology research and platform and application development.