The Japanese government will pay for a significant part of a second Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. factory in southern Kumamoto, according to the leaders of the ruling party’s lawmaker coalition on chips.
Giving no support will be out of the question after the government pledged to shoulder half the cost of the first Kumamoto plant, said Akira Amari and Yoshihiro Seki, chairman and secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party’s group on semiconductors. Amari said around one-third of the cost is the norm for these types of projects, and the amount of support for the first was unusually large.
The subsidies will be part of Japan’s efforts to revive its domestic chipmaking industry, a sector that’s viewed as crucial for growth and economic security, Amari said.