Taiwan is looking at cooperating with three Eastern European countries on semiconductors, a minister said on Thursday, a move likely to find favour in Brussels, which has been courting Taiwanese semiconductor firms to manufacture in the bloc.
Tech powerhouse Taiwan, home to companies such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), is leading efforts to resolve a global shortage of chips that has shut car production lines and is now affecting consumer electronics.
While TSMC is building a $12 billion chip fabrication plant in the US state of Arizona, it has given no suggestion of interest in a similar facility in Europe, despite EU efforts.
But Kung Ming-hsin, who heads Taiwan’s National Development Council, told reporters following his visit to Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Lithuania last month that all three countries had mentioned they wanted to cooperate on chips.
Semiconductor Supply Chain
Taiwan will set up working groups with the three European Union member countries and also offer scholarships for technical training, he added. “The whole semiconductor supply chain is enormous. Many countries can play different roles,” Kung said.
Taiwan is considered far more technologically advanced with semiconductors than most EU manufacturers.
In the second half of the year, TSMC will start producing the latest generation of semiconductors, based on 3 nanometre (nm) technology.
This will improve density and speed, and reduce power consumption. These chips will go into both mobile and high-performance computing applications.
- Reuters, with George Russell
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