Image: Reuters Berita 24 English - A senior Taiwanese official told Reuters that Taiwan would be "glad" to see its semiconductor ...
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| Image: Reuters |
Berita 24 English - A senior Taiwanese official told Reuters that Taiwan would be "glad" to see its semiconductor companies invest in the European Union, but closer ties with the bloc, similar to Taipei's connections with Washington, may help open the door for that.
In an effort to address a persistent global chip shortage, the EU has been recruiting Taiwan, a major semiconductor maker, as one of the "like-minded" collaborators it would like to cooperate with under the European Chips Act launched in February.
While Taiwan and the EU held high-level trade negotiations last month, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC), which had previously indicated that it was in the early stages of considering a potential expansion into Germany, stated less than a week after the meeting that it had no concrete plans for factories in Europe.
While he couldn't speak for chip companies, Taiwan's deputy economy minister Chen Chern-chyi, whose portfolio includes economic relations with Europe, remarked late on Monday that they haven't explicitly stated they won't be visiting Europe.
"However, the government's stance is that we are pleased to see our enterprises have a global presence, including in the United States and Europe, both of which are our partners in similar industries. In terms of policy, we are naturally extremely pleased to see them deploy globally and would be happy to see it happen "said he.
Even in the absence of official diplomatic relations, Taipei has been eager to strengthen ties with other democracies in response to persistent Chinese political and military pressure intended to compel Taiwan to recognise China's sovereignty claims.
One setback for EU aspirations came in February when Taiwan's GlobalWafers Co Ltd failed in its effort to acquire German chip producer Siltronic for 4.35 billion euros ($4.36 billion).
Chen claimed he was unaware that any fresh applications for EU chip projects had been submitted to the ministry, which must authorise significant overseas investments, so far this year.
He continued by saying that Taiwan desired to have deep, institutionalised trade, technology, and economic links with the EU similar to those they had with the US, where TSMC is constructing a $12 billion factory and GlobalWafers a $5 billion facility.
"Our relationships and communication with the US have increased somewhat. Additionally, we intend to establish a similar close cooperation with the EU "Wang stated.
If so, it would be highly beneficial for our companies' awareness of and familiarity with Europe.
A bilateral investment deal between Taiwan and the EU has also been pushed, but no progress has been made.
Chen stated that although that is still a policy objective, transactions that are currently "more realistic" are not being disregarded.
"Even better, we would like to establish a free trade agreement with the EU. There are many FTAs between the EU and other nations, and if the EU is willing, we are too."
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