The Japanese government has revamped its chip strategy with a goal of tripling sales of domestically produced semiconductors to more than ￥15 trillion (US$107.7 billion) by 2030, as the nation centers chips at the heart of its economic security policy.
The revised strategy, released yesterday, aims to bolster efforts to develop and produce cutting-edge semiconductors that are critical for economic security measures and advanced technology such as generative AI, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said.
The sales target for firms that make chips in Japan would help secure a stable supply of semiconductors for the nation, the strategy says.
The target, which appeared in earlier drafts of the revised strategy, compares with sales of about ￥5 trillion in 2020.
“Various investments are being made by Japanese chip-related companies, including smaller ones, and we’d like to back up these investments,” Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura told reporters prior to the release of the strategy. “We want to secure the necessary budget to support these efforts.”
The 274-page strategy did not say how much the government plans to dole out over the coming years in addition to the billions of dollars already in place to encourage Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to add production capacity and to fund Japan’s own chip venture, Rapidus Corp.
Last month, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met with the heads of the world’s largest chipmakers as part of efforts to bring semiconductor production and investment to Japan.
The chipmakers said they would consider more investment in Japan depending on financial incentives and demand.
The government has pledged financial support worth ￥330 billion for Rapidus and up to ￥476 billion for TSMC’s new factory in Kumamoto in southern Japan. The government is also providing up to ￥92.9 billion in subsidies to Kioxia Holdings Corp’s plant in Mie in central Japan.
The government expects the TSMC and Kioxia projects alone to boost Japan’s GDP by ￥4.2 trillion, create about 463,000 jobs and generate about ￥760 billion in tax revenue, the revised strategy shows.
The US dollar was trading at NT$29.7 at 10am today on the Taipei Foreign Exchange, as the New Taiwan dollar gained NT$1.364 from the previous close last week. The NT dollar continued to rise today, after surging 3.07 percent on Friday. After opening at NT$30.91, the NT dollar gained more than NT$1 in just 15 minutes, briefly passing the NT$30 mark. Before the US Department of the Treasury's semi-annual currency report came out, expectations that the NT dollar would keep rising were already building. The NT dollar on Friday closed at NT$31.064, up by NT$0.953 — a 3.07 percent single-day gain. Today,
‘SHORT TERM’: The local currency would likely remain strong in the near term, driven by anticipated US trade pressure, capital inflows and expectations of a US Fed rate cut The US dollar is expected to fall below NT$30 in the near term, as traders anticipate increased pressure from Washington for Taiwan to allow the New Taiwan dollar to appreciate, Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) chief economist Lin Chi-chao (林啟超) said. Following a sharp drop in the greenback against the NT dollar on Friday, Lin told the Central News Agency that the local currency is likely to remain strong in the short term, driven in part by market psychology surrounding anticipated US policy pressure. On Friday, the US dollar fell NT$0.953, or 3.07 percent, closing at NT$31.064 — its lowest level since Jan.
The New Taiwan dollar and Taiwanese stocks surged on signs that trade tensions between the world’s top two economies might start easing and as US tech earnings boosted the outlook of the nation’s semiconductor exports. The NT dollar strengthened as much as 3.8 percent versus the US dollar to 30.815, the biggest intraday gain since January 2011, closing at NT$31.064. The benchmark TAIEX jumped 2.73 percent to outperform the region’s equity gauges. Outlook for global trade improved after China said it is assessing possible trade talks with the US, providing a boost for the nation’s currency and shares. As the NT dollar
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday met with some of the nation’s largest insurance companies as a skyrocketing New Taiwan dollar piles pressure on their hundreds of billions of dollars in US bond investments. The commission has asked some life insurance firms, among the biggest Asian holders of US debt, to discuss how the rapidly strengthening NT dollar has impacted their operations, people familiar with the matter said. The meeting took place as the NT dollar jumped as much as 5 percent yesterday, its biggest intraday gain in more than three decades. The local currency surged as exporters rushed to
RSS