Taiwan is to set up overseas training bases under a 10-year semiconductor innovation program initiated by the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) as part of its efforts to enhance cooperation with other countries on chip development, NSTC Minister Wu Tsung-tsong (吳政忠) said on Wednesday.
Speaking with reporters after the council approved the 10-year development program earlier in the day, Wu said that Taiwan wants to play an important role in the global semiconductor industry with international cooperation expected to facilitate the manufacture of chips used in emerging technologies such as generative artificial intelligence (AI) applications.
Last month, the NSTC unveiled a 10-year chip program, which would be launched next year with an initial budget of NT$12 billion (US$373.7 million) in the first year, but the council did not provide financial details for all of the 10-year period. The program has a goal of making Taiwan a pivotal global IC design hub.
Photo: CNA
The program would assign entry-level IC technologies to its overseas training hubs, while training in more advanced IC processes would remain in Taiwan, Wu said.
The Taiwan Semiconductor Research Institute, run by the NSTC’s National Applied Research Laboratories, has already comprehensive IC development experience in training, IC design and IC manufacturing, and would back the overseas training bases, he added.
IC manufacturing is a capital-intensive industry, so only large economies can afford to have Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, set up production bases with an investment of US$10 billion or higher, Wu said.
On the other hand, as IC design development costs less than IC manufacturing, smaller-sized economies would have an opportunity to work with Taiwan in the field, Wu said.
The future overseas training bases, where Taiwanese lecturers would be assigned, are expected to help interested foreign countries become more acquainted with Taiwan’s IC design training system and forge closer tech cooperation, Wu said.
The 10-year program aims to encourage IC companies and research institutions to apply generative AI technologies to industrial development, while transforming Taiwan into a hub with a top IC talent pool, Wu said.
Although the program would support advanced IC process development, it would also aim to attract start-ups and investment institutions to come to Taiwan for cooperation, he said.
The 10-year program’s first five-year phase would focus on creating semiconductor centers, developing talent and establishing related infrastructure at the Industrial Technology Research Institute, the NSTC said.
In the long term, the program aims to help Taiwan achieve an IC design global market share of about 40 percent by 2033, and an 80 percent global market share for advanced semiconductors of 7 nanometers or below, it said.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS