Online Conference – Shaping the Future of Europe’s Largest Electronics & Semiconductor Cluster
The conference aimed to give interested Taiwanese company representatives an overview of investment opportunities in the two German states of Saxony and Thuringia. Thus, high-ranking representatives of the economic development agencies of both federal states, Saxony Trade & Invest and the State Development Corporation of Thuringia (LEG Thüringen), as well as GTAI provided insights into Germany as a business location. In addition, Dr. Petschulat, Senior Director of ZEISS, and Mr. Steve Hsu, Director of DAS Asia, shared their experiences with successful investment activities in Germany and Dr. Jiun-Haw Lee, Associate Vice President for International Affairs & Professor of Graduate Institute of Photonics and Optoelectronics at the National Taiwan University, spoke about the cooperation potential of German and Taiwanese companies in the semiconductor industry.
Located in the heart of Europe, the Saxony and Thuringia clusters offers tremendous market and customer potential for electronics and semiconductors companies. The business site is pioneering the EUV technology and is the most significant microelectronics location in Europe. At the same time, it is home to solid customer industries, such as automotive, medical technology, mechanical engineering, and plant construction. Saxony and Thuringia have attracted many international companies to invest in them. In addition to the two semiconductor factories that Intel expects to construct in Saxony in 2023, Apple is also making a significant investment in communications technology research and development in Germany, according to official information released by Apple.
Taiwan's semiconductor industry can also evaluate the above mentioned conditions and consider investing in Saxony and Thuringia as a positive move to build a European base. This way, Taiwanese companies can benefit from an excellent bridge to the European market with short delivery times, which is particularly important in the semiconductor industry. Several large and highly automated semiconductor fab companies like Infineon, GlobalFoundries, Bosch, and X-Fab are already manufacturing and developing in this region. The global semiconductor shortage is currently leading to an enormous surge in investment in Germany. For example, according to official information released by Apple, the company is making significant investments in communications technology research and development in Germany. Apple is TSMC's largest customer, which could be seen as a clear positive signal to use Germany as a European semiconductor base.
Investors
from Taiwan's electronics and semiconductor industries who have more in-depth
questions about Germany's largest electronics and semiconductor cluster will
have the chance to participate in individual one-on-one online meetings with
the business development agencies in October.