Kaohsiung on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Arizona and Japan’s Kumamoto Prefecture, paving the way for a three-front partnership in semiconductor development, the Kaohsiung City Government said yesterday.
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁), who is leading a Taiwan-Kumamoto joint delegation to the US, inked the MOU with Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs and Kumamoto Governor Takashi Kimura, the city government said in a statement, adding that Kimura was not part of the delegation and signed the agreement online.
The MOU was a milestone for local governments, building international connections, safeguarding global supply chain security and bolstering the resilience of democracy, it said.
Photo courtesy of the Kaohsiung City Government via CNA
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) has set up production footholds in Kaohsiung, Arizona and Kumamoto, improving economic and technological development in three locations, the statement cited Chen as saying.
Chen said TSMC’s investments have built a friendship among the three places, and the MOU would ensure a trilateral semiconductor partnership across the Indo-Pacific region, it said.
TSMC has started mass production at an advanced wafer fabrication plant in Kaohsiung and committed to investing US$165 billion in Arizona to build sophisticated wafer fabs and integrated circuit packaging facilities.
It also operates a fab in Kumamoto, with a second one under construction.
Taiwan, the US and Japan have forged a long-term partnership, and the three economies have strongly committed to cooperating with each other to bolster their status in global semiconductor development, Hobbs was cited by the statement as saying.
Kimura said the three sides are determined to push for cross-border industrial collaboration to facilitate regional economic development.
After Arizona, Chen’s delegation would head to San Jose, California, for the annual GPU Technology Conference hosted by Nvidia Corp, which runs from tomorrow to Thursday.
Chen, who departed for the US on Wednesday, is scheduled to return to Taiwan on Friday next week.
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