New Southbound Policy Portal

The MOFA welcomes the European Chips Act proposed Feb. 8 by the European Commission. (Staff photo/Pang Chia-shan)
 

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Feb. 9 welcomed the European Chips Act for highlighting the importance of Taiwan in the global semiconductor sector.

Bilateral trade and investment between Taiwan and the EU have been on the rise in recent years, with the two sides poised to further expand cooperation in semiconductor supply chain restructuring in the post-coronavirus economic recovery, the MOFA said.

The government will continue to leverage the already robust foundation and explore new opportunities to enhance bilateral and multilateral partnership with all EU member states, it added.

Proposed by the European Commission Feb. 8, the bill said only two companies in the world, located in Taiwan and South Korea, manufacture the most advanced chips. It urged the EU to establish balanced cooperation with like-minded partners including the U.S., Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan to ensure a reliable global marketplace and supply chain security. Recent global semiconductor shortages have forced factory closures in a wide range of sectors across the EU.

During a related press release, EC Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager and EC Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton both recognized Taiwan’s key role in global semiconductor manufacturing.

As nearly half of the chips used in Europe were produced in Taiwan, they welcomed high-tech heavyweights such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. to invest in Europe.

According to the MOFA, this is the second official document from the EU that calls for expanded cooperation with Taiwan in the strategic sector. It follows the “EU Strategy for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific” report issued Sept. 16, 2021, by the EC and External Action Service to the European Parliament and the Council.

In a tweet on its official Twitter account, the MOFA said “We welcome the @EU_Commission’s recognition of #Taiwan’s advanced chip-making status & interest in building a #Semiconductor partnership as part of efforts to promote more resilient supply chains under the proposed #European Chips Act.” (SFC-E)