Thirty students from the German state of Saxony are to arive in Taiwan in March to receive training in semiconductor manufacturing, visiting Saxony Minister of Science, Culture and Tourism Sebastian Gemkow said in Taipei on Wednesday.
They would be the first group of students to travel to Taiwan under a talent incubation program developed by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the Saxony state government and Dresden University of Technology (TU Dresden), Gemkow said in an interview.
The trilateral partnership was established in September last year with the aim of cultivating a skilled workforce in the field of chip manufacturing in the German state, in the wake of TSMC’s announcement it would build a new fab in Dresden, the capital of Saxony.
Photo: Bloomberg
Gemkow said that the students would begin a series of online semiconductor courses next month.
In March, they are to travel to Taiwan, where they would carry on with their courses at local universities, such as National Taiwan University, and undergo training at TSMC’s plants for six months, said Gemkow, who arrived in Taipei on Tuesday for a three-day visit.
In the long run, more German students from TU Dresden and other universities in Saxony who are interested in semiconductors would travel to Taiwan, the official said, adding that the Saxon Science Liaison Office in Taiwan, inaugurated in September last year, has been working around the clock on this endeavor.
TSMC senior vice president of human resources Lora Ho (何麗梅) said the firms hopes that 100 German students specializing in science, technology, engineering or mathematics would be sent to Taiwan as part of the program each year.
In August last year, TSMC announced plans to build a 12-inch wafer fab in Dresden to produce automotive chips as part of a joint venture with Bosch, Infineon Technologies and NXP Semiconductors.
Total investment is expected to exceed 10 billion euros (US$10.9 billion), with the German government promising to provide 5 billion euros in subsidies.
ELECTRONICS BOOST: A predicted surge in exports would likely be driven by ICT products, exports of which have soared 84.7 percent from a year earlier, DBS said DBS Bank Ltd (星展銀行) yesterday raised its GDP growth forecast for Taiwan this year to 4 percent from 3 percent, citing robust demand for artificial intelligence (AI)-related exports and accelerated shipment activity, which are expected to offset potential headwinds from US tariffs. “Our GDP growth forecast for 2025 is revised up to 4 percent from 3 percent to reflect front-loaded exports and strong AI demand,” Singapore-based DBS senior economist Ma Tieying (馬鐵英) said in an online briefing. Taiwan’s second-quarter performance beat expectations, with GDP growth likely surpassing 5 percent, driven by a 34.1 percent year-on-year increase in exports, Ma said, citing government
‘REMARKABLE SHOWING’: The economy likely grew 5 percent in the first half of the year, although it would likely taper off significantly, TIER economist Gordon Sun said The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) yesterday raised Taiwan’s GDP growth forecast for this year to 3.02 percent, citing robust export-driven expansion in the first half that is likely to give way to a notable slowdown later in the year as the front-loading of global shipments fades. The revised projection marks an upward adjustment of 0.11 percentage points from April’s estimate, driven by a surge in exports and corporate inventory buildup ahead of possible US tariff hikes, TIER economist Gordon Sun (孫明德) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy likely grew more than 5 percent in the first six months
SMART MANUFACTURING: The company aims to have its production close to the market end, but attracting investment is still a challenge, the firm’s president said Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said its long-term global production plan would stay unchanged amid geopolitical and tariff policy uncertainties, citing its diversified global deployment. With operations in Taiwan, Thailand, China, India, Europe and the US, Delta follows a “produce at the market end” strategy and bases its production on customer demand, with major site plans unchanged, Delta president Simon Chang (張訓海) said on the sidelines of a company event yesterday. Thailand would remain Delta’s second headquarters, as stated in its first-quarter earnings conference, with its plant there adopting a full smart manufacturing system, Chang said. Thailand is the firm’s second-largest overseas
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) market value closed above US$1 trillion for the first time in Taipei last week, with a raised sales forecast driven by robust artificial intelligence (AI) demand. TSMC saw its Taiwanese shares climb to a record high on Friday, a near 50 percent rise from an April low. That has made it the first Asian stock worth more than US$1 trillion, since PetroChina Co (中國石油天然氣) briefly reached the milestone in 2007. As investors turned calm after their aggressive buying on Friday, amid optimism over the chipmaker’s business outlook, TSMC lost 0.43 percent to close at NT$1,150
RSS