COLLABORATION:
As TSMC is building an advanced wafer fab in Dresden, Germany, it needs to build a comprehensive supply chain in Europe, Joseph Wu said

Taiwan is planning to team up with the Czech Republic to build a semiconductor cluster in the European country, National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said on Friday.

Wu, who led a Taiwanese delegation at the annual GLOBSEC Forum held in Prague from Friday to today, said in a news conference that Taiwan seeks to foster cooperation between Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) and its counterparts in Czechia.

Such cooperation is expected to transform the country into one of the most important semiconductor clusters in Europe over the next three to five years, he added.

Photo: CNA

As TSMC is building an advanced wafer fab in Dresden, Germany, the company needs a comprehensive supply chain in Europe, he said.

Sound infrastructure including a stable supply of electricity and water and a large pool of excellent engineers are the necessary conditions for Taiwanese companies to consider for their overseas investments, he added.

Taiwan and Czechia would work closely to make sure these conditions are met, Wu said, adding that Taiwanese investors would also take into account investment incentives offered by the Czech government, Wu said.

On Aug. 20, TSMC broke ground on a 12-inch wafer fab in Dresden through a joint venture called European Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (ESMC), which includes Robert Bosch GmbH, Infineon Technologies AG and NXP Semiconductors NV.

Total investment is estimated to top 10 billion euros (US$11.1 billion), with TSMC holding a 70 percent stake and its three partners holding a 10 percent stake each.

The EU Commission approved 5 billion euros in subsidies for the project under the EU Chips Act.

In Taipei, the National Development Council (NDC) on Saturday said in a statement that Czech Chamber of Deputies Speaker Marketa Pekarova Adamova said her country would be glad to provide tax incentives to support Taiwanese investments in the nation’s semiconductor industry as Taiwan is one of the most important democratic allies of Czechia in Asia.

Adamova made the remarks during a meeting with Wu, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫), NDC head Paul Liu (劉鏡清), National Science and Technology Council Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) and Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Chen Chern-chyi (陳正祺), who are also part of the Taiwan delegation at the GLOBSEC forum, the NDC said.

The delegation held multiple meetings with Czech government officials to discuss bilateral economic cooperation such as how to reinforce economic resilience, meet demand from semiconductor suppliers to facilitate their investments, build an industrial cluster and cultivate a talent pool, the NDC said.

In June, another Taiwan delegation, including representatives of semiconductor firms, visited Prague to survey the country’s investment environment and exchange views with Czech representatives about potential investments there, the NDC said, adding that some of the delegates in the June trip have expressed interest in investing in Czechia.

In addition to cooperation in the semiconductor industry, both sides would team up to develop other high-end technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) amid the AI boom, the NDC said.