The world's largest chipmaker, Taiwan's TSMC, has broken ground on its new semiconductor plant in Dresden. Subsidized with 5 billion euros of taxpayers' money, it is part of the German government's and the EU's plan to become less dependent on China for critical computer components.
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00:00A groundbreaking ceremony in Dresden, marking one of the largest ever investments in Eastern
00:05Germany.
00:06C.C.
00:07Wei, CEO of the main investor TSMC, traveled from Taiwan to be here.
00:14He was joined by Germany's Chancellor and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
00:19Perfect.
00:20I got all the support from EU's Commission.
00:25I got support from German government, federal, state and local.
00:32I'm happy.
00:33This is what the chip factory will look like in 2027.
00:37It'll cost over 10 billion euros, with almost half funded by German taxpayers.
00:42The high level of subsidies made possible by the EU's European Chips Act.
00:47It aims to establish semiconductor plants locally in Europe, making the continent less
00:52vulnerable to global supply chain disruptions, trade disputes and piracy against ships passing
00:57through the Red Sea.
01:02Taiwan's TSMC will hold a 70 percent stake in the newly created European Semiconductor
01:08Manufacturing Company.
01:10Other investors include Bosch and Infineon from Germany and the Dutch chip firm NXP,
01:15each with a 10 percent share.
01:19I think it's very difficult.
01:20You saw how much money gets invested, right?
01:2310 billion.
01:24That's a huge amount.
01:25Actually, for all our companies, it's quite an amount.
01:27And the other thing is, you need skills for this, and everybody contributes different
01:30skills with it.
01:31I think TSMC contributes to it, the skill set of manufacturing, NXP, Infineon and Bosch
01:37are complemented with the skill set of products and developing products which fit in this
01:40factory.
01:41So you need each other.
01:42And that's pretty typical in the semiconductor industry, where doing things alone is less
01:47successful than partnering in all kinds of ways together and using each other's strengths.
01:52The biggest investor TSMC is working closely with is Dresden Technical University.
01:58Thirty students are taking part in an eight-month internship at TSMC in Taiwan this year alone.
02:04Like Veronica Voronko and Shradha Komatvar.
02:08They are hoping to be among the 2,000 employees in Dresden who will produce chips to control
02:13engines.
02:15You have a real chance to be employed there in the future.
02:19TSMC is a well-known company, so it kind of has its own brand.
02:25So when I changed, like added the fact that I'm an intern at TSMC, it of course elevated
02:31my CV.
02:32For TSMC, the opening of the plant is a step towards becoming less dependent on Taiwan,
02:38a small island at risk of being attacked by China.
02:42The company is also planning a chip factory in Japan and two in Arizona.
02:47The plant in Dresden is an important part of TSMC's internationalization.