The newly elected governor of Japan’s Kumamoto Prefecture said he is ready to ensure wide-ranging support to woo Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to build its third Japanese chip factory there.
Concerns of groundwater shortages when TSMC’s two plants begin operations in the prefecture’s Kikuyo have spurred discussions about the possibility of tapping unused dam water, Kumamoto Governor Takashi Kimura said in an interview on Saturday.
While Kimura said talks about a third plant have yet to occur, Bloomberg had reported TSMC is already considering its third Japanese fab — also in Kumamoto — which would make more advanced chips.
Photo: Bloomberg
“We are prepared to give our full support,” said Kimura, who took office last month.
The 49-year-old former central government bureaucrat said he has proposed a visit to the chipmaker’s Taiwan headquarters this summer to discuss another plant.
Semiconductor plants typically use thousands of cubic meters of groundwater per day. TSMC’s Japanese unit has pledged to reduce water consumption, recycle more water and make efforts to replenish more water than it uses.
TSMC opened its first factory in Japan in February, putting it on track to begin mass production later this year. Construction of TSMC’s second plant, which would also receive government subsidies, is scheduled to begin by the end of this year.
The two plants together are expected to employ more than 3,400 people, and have already propelled a surge in land prices and infrastructure investment. They are expected to contribute about ￥10.5 trillion (US$67.4 billion) to the economy of the broader prefecture over 10 years, according to the Kyushu Economic Research Center.
Talks during the construction of the first factory have equipped Kumamoto Prefecture with better road and water infrastructure and an education system that better supports international school students, Kimura said.
The governor said he hopes enough semiconductor-related companies and research institutions would settle in Kumamoto to create something akin to Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區).
“We want to make Kumamoto a birthplace for a myriad of industries originating from semiconductors, such as AI [artificial intelligence], data centers and self-driving,” he said.
Semiconductors are essential for reducing energy consumption, Kimura said. “They’re necessary for the future of the planet.”
SETBACK: Apple’s India iPhone push has been disrupted after Foxconn recalled hundreds of Chinese engineers, amid Beijing’s attempts to curb tech transfers Apple Inc assembly partner Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), also known internationally as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has recalled about 300 Chinese engineers from a factory in India, the latest setback for the iPhone maker’s push to rapidly expand in the country. The extraction of Chinese workers from the factory of Yuzhan Technology (India) Private Ltd, a Hon Hai component unit, in southern Tamil Nadu state, is the second such move in a few months. The company has started flying in Taiwanese engineers to replace staff leaving, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be named, as the
The prices of gasoline and diesel at domestic fuel stations are to rise NT$0.1 and NT$0.4 per liter this week respectively, after international crude oil prices rose last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) announced yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to rise to NT$27.3, NT$28.8 and NT$30.8 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, the companies said in separate statements. The price of premium diesel is to rise to NT$26.2 per liter at CPC stations and NT$26 at Formosa pumps, they said. The announcements came after international crude oil prices
SinoPac Financial Holdings Co (永豐金控) is weighing whether to add a life insurance business to its portfolio, but would tread cautiously after completing three acquisitions in quick succession, president Stanley Chu (朱士廷) said yesterday. “We are carefully considering whether life insurance should play a role in SinoPac’s business map,” Chu told reporters ahead of an earnings conference. “Our priority is to ensure the success of the deals we have already made, even though we are tracking some possible targets.” Local media have reported that Mercuries Life Insurance Co (三商美邦人壽), which is seeking buyers amid financial strains, has invited three financial
On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump weighed in on a pressing national issue: The rebranding of a restaurant chain. Last week, Cracker Barrel, a Tennessee company whose nationwide locations lean heavily on a cozy, old-timey aesthetic — “rocking chairs on the porch, a warm fire in the hearth, peg games on the table” — announced it was updating its logo. Uncle Herschel, the man who once appeared next to the letters with a barrel, was gone. It sparked ire on the right, with Donald Trump Jr leading a charge against the rebranding: “WTF is wrong with Cracker Barrel?!” Later, Trump Sr weighed
RSS