Construction to begin on new German computer chip factory

DW (English)

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.

Transcript

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.

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