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.”
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