The Czech Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei and the CzechInvest Taiwan office yesterday held a forum on semiconductor industry business opportunities, calling for investment from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) suppliers.
The call followed an announcement from TSMC last year that it plans to build a fab in Dresden, Germany.
Speaking at the seminar in Taipei on investment incentives “tailored for the Taiwanese semiconductor industry,” visiting Czech Senate Vice President Jiri Drahos stressed the need to diversify semiconductor production capacity.
Photo: CNA
The investment would mitigate the vulnerability of supply chain disruptions potentially caused by “natural disasters, geopolitical tensions or resource scarcity,” he added.
Drahos said the Czech Republic is an ideal country for Taiwan to implement the “friend-shoring” strategy, meaning collaboration with “an allied nation who would be willing to cooperate and build the semiconductor environment.”
He added that his country is ready to work with TSMC and become part of the semiconductor ecosystem in Europe as the supply chain expands.
The forum aimed to attract the suppliers of TSMC, which has set up its majority-owned subsidy European Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (ESMC) in Dresden.
TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, has said it plans to begin constructing a fab in the German city in the second half of this year, with production targeted to begin by the end of 2027.
Drahos touted the Czech Republic’s industrial background, educated and skilled workforce, and strategic location.
He emphasized the country’s closeness to “all major chip producers in Europe, particularly the future TSMC foundry in Dresden,” which is less than a two-hour drive from Prague, and highlighted the direct Prague-Taipei flights on China Airlines Ltd (中華航空).
Matous Kostlivy, director of Taiwanese operations at CzechInvest, the Czech Republic’s investment and business development agency, said that his country was more affordable than Germany.
He added that many suppliers of Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp and South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co followed the two multinationals when they set up shop in the Czech Republic.
CzechInvest opened an office in Taiwan in April — its third in Asia, following those in Japan and South Korea.
With ESMC’s establishment, discussions have naturally turned to the possibility of the Czech Republic becoming an important location for Europe’s semiconductor sector, said Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫), who also attended the forum.
Yesterday’s forum was opened by Drahos and Czech Deputy Minister of Science, Research and Innovation Jana Havlikova, who are leading a 19-member Czech delegation that arrived in Taiwan on Monday.
When an apartment comes up for rent in Germany’s big cities, hundreds of prospective tenants often queue down the street to view it, but the acute shortage of affordable housing is getting scant attention ahead of today’s snap general election. “Housing is one of the main problems for people, but nobody talks about it, nobody takes it seriously,” said Andreas Ibel, president of Build Europe, an association representing housing developers. Migration and the sluggish economy top the list of voters’ concerns, but analysts say housing policy fails to break through as returns on investment take time to register, making the
EARLY TALKS: Measures under consideration include convincing allies to match US curbs, further restricting exports of AI chips or GPUs, and blocking Chinese investments US President Donald Trump’s administration is sketching out tougher versions of US semiconductor curbs and pressuring key allies to escalate their restrictions on China’s chip industry, an early indication the new US president plans to expand efforts that began under former US president Joe Biden to limit Beijing’s technological prowess. Trump officials recently met with their Japanese and Dutch counterparts about restricting Tokyo Electron Ltd and ASML Holding NV engineers from maintaining semiconductor gear in China, people familiar with the matter said. The aim, which was also a priority for Biden, is to see key allies match China curbs the US
NOT TO WORRY: Some people are concerned funds might continue moving out of the country, but the central bank said financial account outflows are not unusual in Taiwan Taiwan’s outbound investments hit a new high last year due to investments made by contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and other major manufacturers to boost global expansion, the central bank said on Thursday. The net increase in outbound investments last year reached a record US$21.05 billion, while the net increase in outbound investments by Taiwanese residents reached a record US$31.98 billion, central bank data showed. Chen Fei-wen (陳斐紋), deputy director of the central bank’s Department of Economic Research, said the increase was largely due to TSMC’s efforts to expand production in the US and Japan. Investments by Vanguard International
The popular Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) arbitrage trade might soon see a change in dynamics that could affect the trading of the US listing versus the local one. And for anyone who wants to monetize the elevated premium, Goldman Sachs Group Inc highlights potential trades. A note from the bank’s sales desk published on Friday said that demand for TSMC’s Taipei-traded stock could rise as Taiwan’s regulator is considering an amendment to local exchange-traded funds’ (ETFs) ownership. The changes, which could come in the first half of this year, could push up the current 30 percent single-stock weight limit
RSS