The Ministry of Economic Affairs has approved a NT$285 million (US$9.27 million) subsidy to fund ASML Holding NV’s 2-nanometer wafer optical measurement equipment research-and-development (R&D) project in Taiwan, the Central News Agency (CNA) reported yesterday.
The Dutch semiconductor equipment supplier announced in November last year that it would expand its investment in Taiwan by building a new factory in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口) to support global customers and the development of the local semiconductor industry.
The world’s sole supplier of extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) photolithography machines that semiconductor manufacturers use in the production of cutting-edge chips applied to participate in the ministry’s “A+ Industrial Innovative R&D Program” to obtain funding for the development and manufacturing of 2-nanometer wafer optical measurement equipment in Taiwan.
Photo: Reuters
The ministry said the NT$285 million subsidy would account for 30 percent of the two-year project’s total investment of NT$950 million.
Aside from being the first in the world, the project would enhance the capacity of the local semiconductor supply chain as ASML aims to boost the local chip industry’s self-sufficiency rate to 35 percent, add six Taiwanese suppliers and raise its domestic procurement to NT$7.2 billion per year, the CNA report said, citing unnamed ministry officials.
ASML chose to boost its investment in Taiwan mainly because of the nation’s complete supply chain and proximity to semiconductor customers and suppliers, the officials said.
The company in August 2020 launched a global EUV training center for engineers at the Southern Taiwan Science Park (南部科學園區) in Tainan.
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