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.
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