Taiwan and the EU have agreed to collaborate on enhancing semiconductor supply chain resilience by boosting bilateral trade and investment, and deepening research-and-development efforts, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
The ministry issued the statement after wrapping up the first ministerial-level talks between Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) and EU Director-General for Trade Sabine Weyand last night.
The meeting represented a major breakthrough in Taiwan’s trade relationship with the EU, it said.
Photo courtesy of the Executive Yuan
The semiconductor supply chain issue topped the agenda of the online meeting, as a global chip crunch has taken a toll on auto production and other industries after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March last year upended supply chains and paralyzed logistics.
Taiwan has strived to help its EU allies mitigate chip supply shortages and sent a delegation of semiconductor experts to Lithuania, Slovakia and the Czech Republic to gain a better understanding of their industrial developments and explore ways to deepen its partnerships with EU nations, the statement said.
“Taiwan will continue playing its role as the world’s trusted partner in the semiconductor industry and assist the world to stabilize supply chain resilience,” Wang said in the statement.
As part of a greater effort to bolster supply chain resilience, Taiwan and the EU also agreed to share information about semiconductor supply chains, the statement said.
New working groups would be formed to discuss details about how to build a resilient semiconductor supply chain and to increase exchanges about trade, investment and other strategic issues, it said.
Aside from discussing trade barriers, Wang and Weyand also delved into the issue of sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures related to plant and animal product exports to the EU, it said.
Taiwan also demonstrated its determination to achieve net-zero carbon emissions in 2050, the ministry said.
The EU is the fifth-biggest trade partner of Taiwan, with bilateral trade last year surging 32.55 percent to US$68.7 billion from a year earlier.
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