Taipei, Oct. 27 (CNA) German Institute Taipei representative Jörg Polster on Friday emphasized the importance of people-to-people exchanges, especially in education, that will come about from long-term bilateral collaboration after Taiwan’s top microchip maker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) opens a chipmaking plant in Dresden, Germany.
At the Sino-German Cultural and Economic Association’s (CDKWV), 90th Anniversary International Conference, which held panel discussions on international supply chain development and opportunities for further Taiwan-Germany collaboration, Polster was invited along with other former German representatives and incumbent representatives from German-speaking countries to share their views.
The German representative said on a panel that while it is “these very broad structures, such as companies or Taiwan and Germany” that have been discussed, “in the end, it’s people [that matter].”
When talking about the investment by TSMC and what should be or will be done about the semiconductor industry, he said that “in the end, we need experts to handle these,” adding that industrial cooperation has to be coupled with academic cooperation.
“It was not by chance that the first federal minister [since 1997] to have visited Taiwan in March was a minister of education, training, and science,” Polster said, referring to German Federal Minister of Education and Research Bettina Stark-Watzinger’s visit to Taiwan earlier this year, during which the two countries signed the first Scientific and Technological Cooperation Agreement.
The German representative said that based on the signed agreement, academic exchanges for young people are further rolled out on the basis of the existing ones.
“Starting next February, we will have 40 young students from Saxony to come to Taiwan, who will be studying at National Taiwan University for four months and then another two months at TSMC,” he said.
Polster called these people, along with around 2,600 Taiwanese students currently studying in Germany, “ambassadors” who will bring Taiwan and Germany’s people and companies together.
During the panel, Polster also noted that while TSMC is the corporation in the spotlight right now, there are chances for other companies, including supply chain firms, to find opportunities in different sectors in Germany.
He encouraged the Taiwanese companies to approach commerce chambers and Taiwanese offices in Germany to seek more information.
Before the panel began, Polster was asked by the reporters whether TSMC suppliers would have the German government’s support if they are to move to Germany as well, pointing out that TSMC’s Dresden factory is receiving 5 billion Euro in subsidies.
He responded that before looking to the government, in a market economy, assistance can first be sought through business associations, citing SEMI Taiwan in this case.
“I’m in discussion with Terry [Tsao, SEMI Taiwan president]. He will come with some representatives and I’ve been in contact with some people in Dresden, and we [will] bring them together to discuss what we need and what [opportunities] are available,” Polster said, stressing this is the “natural process” and his office is an “anchor for facilitating whatever needs to be facilitated.”
He also told the reporters that as TSMC is located in Dresden, a supply chain from raw materials to technologies is already in place.
“There is a good reason why it’s called an ecosystem … We have this already with the Silicon Saxony, but it will be increased a lot,” Polster said, referring to the industry association of nearly 300 companies in the microelectronics and related sectors in the region.
Friday’s conference also had media personality Sisy Chen (陳文茜) as the keynote speaker. She gave a one-hour talk on Taiwan’s predicament amid U.S.-China rivalry.
Stan Shih (施振榮), founder of Taiwan-based PC vendor Acer Inc., as a panelist, said that while globalization may be in retreat, Taiwan can still cooperate with the U.S. and European partners in the world of regionalization.
The CDKWV, which celebrates its 90th anniversary this year, was established in Nanjing, China in 1933 by Chu Chia-hua (朱家驊), who had served as minister of transportation and minister of education in the pre-1949 Republic of China government in China.
