Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said Taiwan’s government plans to set up a business service company in Kyushu, Japan, to help Taiwanese companies operating there.
“The company will follow the one-stop service model similar to the science parks we have in Taiwan,” Kuo said. “As each prefecture is providing different conditions, we will establish a new company providing services and helping Taiwanese companies swiftly settle in Japan.”
Kuo did not specify the exact location of the planned company but said it would not be in Kumamoto, the Kyushu prefecture in which Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC, 台積電) has a fab and is preparing to build another one.
Photo: An Rong Xu, Bloomberg
Different prefectures in Kyushu are offering different incentives for foreign companies, "so the service company we set up will help organize the information and facilitate the 'localization' of Taiwanese enterprises," Kuo said.
Nagasaki, Oita, Miyazaki, and Kitakyushu are some of the Kyushu prefectures that have expressed interest in welcoming Taiwanese companies, he said.
Currently, the plan is limited to Kyushu, he said in response to a question on whether other Taiwanese one-stop service centers will be set up in Japan in the future.
Photo: Grace Hung, Taipei Times
"For other areas such as Kansai and Kanto, it would depend on the nature of the local industries, as most of the Taiwanese companies currently in Japan are part of the supply chain [for the semiconductor industry]," Kuo said.
Asked about a report that TSMC was planning to build a third fab in Japan, Kuo said that question should be directed to the company.
A Japanese media outlet on Sunday quoted Kuo as saying that TSMC would build a third fab in Japan to produce leading-edge chips after 2030.
Kuo, who was doorstepped by reporters ahead of a news conference for this week’s Semicon Taiwan exhibition, also pushed back at criticism of Taiwan by US Republican presidential nominee and former president Donald Trump, and denied that Taiwan took the US chip industry.
“Of course Taiwan is not stealing the chip industry from the US,” Kuo told reporters in Taipei. “The chips we made are commissioned by US companies, which still have the highest gross margin. Trump might have some misunderstanding on such matters, and we will clarify that.”
Trump rattled Taiwan officials and the country’s markets with comments published on July 16 in Bloomberg Businessweek that criticized Taiwan over its chip sector and urged it to pay the US for protection.
That has raised fears that if Trump succeeds US President Joe Biden, who has repeatedly said the US would defend Taiwan from a Chinese attack, he would be less committed, viewing Taiwan in transactional terms.
“Taiwan took our chip business from us,” Trump said at the time. “I mean, how stupid are we? They took all of our chip business. They’re immensely wealthy.”
Since Trump’s comments, Taiwanese officials have tried to talk up the nation’s efforts to uphold its part of the relationship.
In response to Trump’s call for Taiwan to “pay” the US for protection, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said the country has increased defense spending and extended the conscription period.
“It’s our shared responsibility and goal to maintain the peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific region,” Cho said on July 17.
TARIFFS: The global ‘panic atmosphere remains strong,’ and foreign investors have continued to sell their holdings since the start of the year, the Ministry of Finance said The government yesterday authorized the activation of its NT$500 billion (US$15.15 billion) National Stabilization Fund (NSF) to prop up the local stock market after two days of sharp falls in reaction to US President Donald Trump’s new import tariffs. The Ministry of Finance said in a statement after the market close that the steering committee of the fund had been given the go-ahead to intervene in the market to bolster Taiwanese shares in a time of crisis. The fund has been authorized to use its assets “to carry out market stabilization tasks as appropriate to maintain the stability of Taiwan’s
STEEP DECLINE: Yesterday’s drop was the third-steepest in its history, the steepest being Monday’s drop in the wake of the tariff announcement on Wednesday last week Taiwanese stocks continued their heavy sell-off yesterday, as concerns over US tariffs and unwinding of leveraged bets weighed on the market. The benchmark TAIEX plunged 1,068.19 points, or 5.79 percent, to 17,391.76, notching the biggest drop among Asian peers as it hit a 15-month low. The decline came even after the government on late Tuesday authorized the NT$500 billion (US$15.2 billion) National Stabilization Fund (國安基金) to step in to buoy the market amid investors’ worries over tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump. Yesterday’s decline was the third-steepest in its history, trailing only the declines of 2,065.87 points on Monday and
TARIFF CONCERNS: The chipmaker cited global uncertainty from US tariffs and a weakening economic outlook, but said its Singapore expansion remains on track Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp (世界先進), a foundry service provider specializing in producing power management and display driver chips, yesterday withdrew its full-year revenue projection of moderate growth for this year, as escalating US tariff tensions raised uncertainty and concern about a potential economic recession. The Hsinchu-based chipmaker in February said revenues this year would grow mildly from last year based on improving supply chain inventory levels and market demand. At the time, it also anticipated gradual quarter revenue growth. However, the US’ sweeping tariff policy has upended the industry’s supply chains and weakened economic prospects for the world economy, it said. “Now
An employment discrimination lawsuit against contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) might soon be expanded after a hearing in a federal court in San Jose, California, on Tuesday to add 15 plaintiffs to the case. According to a court document, the lawsuit, which was refiled in November last year as a form of a class action with 13 plaintiffs in California, wants to add 15 plaintiffs from Arizona, where TSMC is building up its wafer fab capacity. TSMC first committed between 2020 and last year to invest US$65 billion in three advanced wafer fabs in Arizona. It then pledged an
RSS