German Institute Taipei Director-General Jorg Polster on Friday emphasized the importance of people-to-people exchanges, especially in education, that will come about from long-term bilateral collaboration after Taiwan’s top microchip maker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), opens a chipmaking plant in Dresden, Germany.
At the Sino-German Cultural and Economic Association’s (CDKWV) 90th Anniversary International Conference, which held panel discussions on international supply chain development and opportunities for further Taiwan-Germany collaboration, Polster was invited along with other former German representatives and incumbent representatives from German-speaking countries to share their views.
The German representative said on a panel that while it is “these very broad structures, such as companies or Taiwan and Germany” that have been discussed, “in the end, it’s people [that matter].”
Photo: CNA
When talking about the investment by TSMC and what should be or will be done about the semiconductor industry, he said that “in the end, we need experts to handle these,” adding that industrial cooperation has to be coupled with academic cooperation.
“It was not by chance that the first federal minister [since 1997] to have visited Taiwan in March was a minister of education, training and science,” Polster said, referring to German Federal Minister of Education and Research Bettina Stark-Watzinger’s visit to Taiwan earlier this year, during which the two countries signed the first scientific and technological cooperation agreement.
The German representative said that based on this agreement, academic exchanges for young people would be further rolled out on the basis of existing ones.
“Starting next February, we will have 40 young students from Saxony to come to Taiwan, who will be studying at National Taiwan University for four months and then another two months at TSMC,” he said.
Polster said these people, along with around 2,600 Taiwanese students currently studying in Germany, are “ambassadors” who will bring Taiwan and Germany’s people and companies together.
During the panel, Polster said that while TSMC is in the spotlight right now, other companies, including supply chain firms, could find opportunities in different sectors in Germany.
He encouraged the Taiwanese companies to approach chambers of commerce and Taiwanese offices in Germany to seek more information.
Before the panel began, reporters asked Polster whether TSMC suppliers would have the German government’s support if they were to move to Germany as well, adding that TSMC’s Dresden factory is receiving 5 billion euros (US$5.29 billion) in subsidies.
Polster said that before looking to the government, in a market economy, assistance can first be sought through business associations, citing SEMI Taiwan in this case.
“I’m in discussion with [SEMI Taiwan president] Terry [Tsao (曹世綸)]. He will come with some representatives and I’ve been in contact with some people in Dresden, and we’ll bring them together to discuss what we need and what [opportunities] are available,” Polster said, stressing this is the “natural process” and his office is an “anchor for facilitating whatever needs to be facilitated.”
He told reporters that with a TSMC factory in Dresden, a supply chain from raw materials to technologies is already in place.
“There is a good reason why it’s called an ecosystem... We have this already with the Silicon Saxony, but it will be increased a lot,” Polster said, referring to an industry association of nearly 300 companies in the microelectronics and related sectors in the region.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
RSS