Taiwan welcomes closer cooperation with the European Union in the semiconductor industry. That was the word from Taiwan’s foreign ministry on Wednesday, after the European Commission unveiled the EU Chips Act on Tuesday.
Under the proposed legislation, the EU would invest €11 billion (US$12.6 billion) to strengthen the European semiconductor industry. The proposal aims to increase the EU’s market share of the global semiconductor industry from 9 percent right now to 20 percent by 2030.
Part of that increase would come by encouraging overseas manufacturers to make more chips in the European Union. Those manufacturers include semiconductor giants like Taiwan’s TSMC.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Joanne Ou says Taiwan’s government welcomes the proposal on enhancing EU-Taiwan cooperation in bilateral investment and trade. She says the EU and Taiwan can work together on semiconductor manufacturing, global supply chains, and strengthening the resilience of democracies in the post COVID-19 era.
Senior European Commission officials Margrethe Vestager and Thierry Breton say that Taiwan is a like-minded partner and they welcome Taiwan’s expertise in this industry. Breton says that Taiwan holds a very important position in the global semiconductor production sector and that half of the semiconductors used in Europe were made in Taiwan.