【2024.11.13】2024 Joint Seminar

The University of Kitakyushu

Center for Chinese Business Studies

The Asian Regional Cooperation Department of the Institute for Regional Strategy

2024 Joint Seminar

Theme: The Trends and Impact of Taiwanese Semiconductor Companies’ Investment in Kyushu

Date and Time: Wednesday, November 13, 2024, 15:50-17:40

Venue: The University of Kitakyushu, Kokura Satellite Campus

On November 13, a joint seminar on “The Trends and Impact of Taiwanese Semiconductor Companies’ Investment in Kyushu,” organized by the Center for Chinese Business Studies and The Asian Regional Cooperation Department of the Institute for Regional Strategy, and supported by the Kitakyushu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, was successfully held.

From the 1980s to the early 1990s, Japan’s semiconductor industry led the world, and Kyushu was the Silicon Island of Japan’s industrial economy. Against the backdrop of Japan-U.S. trade friction and intensifying competition within the semiconductor industry, the Japan-U.S. Automotive Structural Consultation and the Japan-U.S. Semiconductor Structural Consultation coincided with the collapse of the Japanese economic bubble, leading to a decline in semiconductor manufacturing and related industries suffering in an economic downturn. The construction of the JASM (TSMC’s Japanese subsidiary) Kumamoto Plant is expected to spur new investment by related companies and provide an opportunity for revitalization of the semiconductor industry and local economy recovery.

Professor Taichin CHIANG was the seminar lecturer. He has completed a doctoral course in Materials Science and Engineering at the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, is an expert in science and technology policy and semiconductor industry research, and is an assistant researcher at the Chung Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER). Furthermore, Professor CHIANG has served as a special associate professor at the Institute of Science Tokyo’s School of Engineering and director of Science Tokyo’s Taiwan Office. He has filled the role of director of the Taiwan-Japan Industrial Technology Cooperation Promotion Association, and has worked to promote Taiwan-Japan science-related, technology-related, and cultural exchange.

During the seminar, Professor CHIANG introduced the characteristics of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry structure, which has a comprehensive and complete supply chain, and made a comparative evaluation of the industry’s international competitiveness in terms of gross output, sales, and technological indicators. The background, significance, and challenges of the investment in Kyushu by TSMC, the leading manufacturer of advanced semiconductors, were analyzed from a perspective of considerable expertise. Japan, which has particular strengths in materials and processing equipment for semiconductor manufacturing, is striving to return to the position of semiconductor powerhouse through industrial policy development, subsidy support, and public-private partnerships, but it is difficult for a single country to maintain a monopoly in the global, diverse, and complex semiconductor supply chain. Furthermore, the development of the human resources required for the task at hand is likely to be particularly time consuming.

The commentator was Professor Xiaoping WANG, Director of the Center for Chinese Business Studies. He thanked Professor CHIANG  and the Chung Hua Institution for Economic Research for supporting the overseas training program within the MBA program at Kitakyushu University. Professor WANG also expressed gratitude for Professor CHIANG’s thoughtfulness in taking the opportunity presented by his visit to Kyushu to plan a seminar that would lead to regional development. Professor WANG then foregrounded the following four points: a) geopolitical economic security perspectives are encouraging advanced semiconductor manufacturers to diversify their locations; b) the differences between the U.S. and Japanese semiconductor industry business models have influenced the rise and fall of the semiconductor industry over the past 30 years; c) the government’s policy in regard to attracting foreign investment (its attitude toward foreign investment) determines the level of infrastructure development required of foreign companies and influences foreign investment attraction outcomes; and, d) mutual understanding and compromise in the context of differences in business cultures will lead to a win-win relationship between business partners.

The number of participants exceeded the capacity of the venue and many participants asked questions, indicating a high level of interest in the content of the seminar.