Wang Keyin’s Column/TSMC Kumamoto Plant opens Lantern Festival, Japan competes to recruit semiconductors, leads Germany and the United States
Wang Keyin/TV International Program Producer
TSMC Chairman Liu Deyin held his last speech before his retirement and announced the progress of global expansion. The Kumamoto factory, a joint venture between TSMC and Japanese companies Sony and DENSO, is progressing the fastest. The first factory will open after the Lunar New Year; the second factory is also confirmed to be located in Kumamoto. , Kikuyo Town already has enough factory space for the first and second factories to be close together.
The Japanese factory is making rapid progress, and TSMC is also accelerating the construction of factories in the United States and Germany. Why on earth is Japan able to lead all the way and be so far ahead in this semiconductor competition for marriage?
The true significance of TSMC’s Kumamoto plant to Japan
The author, second from the right; Shuzo Shinoshima, the director of Keiretsu Industrial Promotion, the fourth from the right
Shuzo Kojima, Minister of Industrial Promotion of Kyu Keiren, said in an interview that the Japanese semiconductor industry was in its heyday from the 1980s to the early 1990s. It was all led by the private sector and companies competed with each other. The country had no policy environment to assist and no willingness to get involved. At that time, even Taiwanese people wanted to go to Japan to learn semiconductor knowledge and technology. As the semiconductor industry moved towards horizontal division of labor, the wafer foundry model gradually emerged. The Japanese industry still insisted on vertical integration and insisted on completing “everything in its own place”. “Job”, over time it lost its investment advantage. It was not until 2021, after the Kishida government took office, that the concept of economic security developed maturely, and the semiconductor industry policy was reviewed again.
Kyushu Economic Federation
Founded in 1961, the Kyushu Economic Federation is a cross-industry comprehensive chamber of commerce. Its history is second only to the Kansai Economic Federation, the Central Economic Federation, and the most well-known Japan Business Federation (Keidanren), which were successively established after the war. ), since the proportion of economic growth exceeds Japan’s overall performance, Kyushu is the first to call out the goal of reaching the Kyushu region’s gross production (GRP) of 5 million yen per person by 2030. This is optimistic about the revival of Kyushu Silicon Island.
How long it will take for “Hinomaru Semiconductor” to restore the glory of the Roman Empire in the past is difficult to estimate at this stage. What has the Japanese government done? As for the central government, the subsidies on hand and the formulation of the “Semiconductor and Digital Industry Strategy” in 2021 are two major weapons. The outside world is well aware that the Japanese government generously subsidizes not only the construction of factories, but also future operations; the latter lacks discussion What is the “national strategic height”? In short, it is the “Constitution” of the revival of Kyushu Silicon Island. Other supporting facilities have emerged under this framework. Bureaucrats act in accordance with various central regulations and perform their duties. There is no ambiguity. space, let alone being questioned about match-fixing. For example, one of the important tasks of the Kyushu Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is to try to integrate a system that can cultivate semiconductor talents in the shortest possible time.
The concrete benefits brought by the Kumamoto plant to Kyushu. Why doesn’t Japan copy another Bamboo family?
Another significance of the “Semiconductor and Digital Industry Strategy” is that all eight local governments in the Kyushu region must get on board to achieve a common goal, work together to regain the reputation of Kyushu Silicon Island, and strengthen the existing semiconductor supply chain in the Kyushu region. It means that the original local factories should expand investment, and semiconductor-related industries in other parts of Japan should actively invite them to enter the Kyushu ecological chain.
After the news of TSMC’s Kumamoto plant came out, from April 2021 to August 2023, Japanese companies invested in 68 new or additional factories in the Kyushu region, with an amount reaching 2.24 trillion yen, especially semiconductor devices, equipment, and materials. When Japan regains a strategic position in Kyushu’s supply chain in areas where it is relatively good at it, there is a strong consensus among the industry to “expand the pie” and to build Kyushu Silicon Island into the most competitive semiconductor industry cluster in East Asia.
TSMC Kumamoto Field
New investment in Jiuzhou supply chain
The author personally asked officials from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan whether they would replicate the “Hsinchu Science Park” in Japan. After all, the Taiwan Science Park model is the combination of production factors that Taiwanese manufacturers are most familiar with, and it is also inseparable from the growth of TSMC. However, Although Japanese officials affirmed the Hsinchu Science Park model, they also made it clear that “Japan will not copy this model.”
Taiwan’s earliest science park, Bamboo Branch, was the product of a specific time and space. It was dominated by the government from top to bottom, focusing on production but not the environment. There was no need to consider labor, and there was no carbon reduction, CSI, SDGs and other norms. This model cannot be embedded. In the current political environment in Japan, “bureaucratic industrial reform” has long been out of fashion in Japan. This kind of corrupt Confucianism that praises government omnipotence and the elite of Tohoku University in Kasumigaseki and benefits the country and the people all day long has become Over time, the Japanese government and enterprises have shifted to a partnership and collaborative relationship rather than top-down command and supervision. Specifically, industry, government and academia have been assigned the task of revitalizing the semiconductor industry. The ultimate goal of the three parties is to “cultivate semiconductor talents” and ” “Strengthen the supply chain” and “Deepen exchanges with overseas industries.”
The so-called cooperation between industry, government and academia certainly involves multi-level governance. Facilitating talent requires investment from universities, high schools, and vocational schools. For example, the Semiconductor Innovation Association (SHIIQ) funded by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry cooperates with Kyushu University and other institutions to re-establish Planning courses; the main body of the supply chain is naturally manufacturers; and in terms of overseas exchanges, especially exchanges with Taiwan, chambers of commerce are at the forefront.
How does political power translate into good governance in the semiconductor industry?
What is most worth exploring is that the secret of Kyushu Semiconductor’s revival and the real key position of political power is not what Liberal Democratic Party leader Amari Akira said to the media. After all, the central government has formulated laws and budgets, and policy performance will not change on its own. Achieved, the local governments of the eight counties in Kyushu are responsible for converting the benefits of various policies into output. Some people will say that the Japanese “governors” have no power. That is because they are used to the political performance of Taiwan’s “governors”. There are governors who are doing things. We know how to use cross-domain governance to compete with other counties and gain support from the central government.
There are no term limits for governors in Japan, and it is not uncommon to be re-elected for more than two terms. People without party membership are expected to be elected, and they are often endorsed by different political parties. They are more likely to work beyond party affiliation. Kumamoto Governor Ubashima Ikuo was originally a professor at the University of Tokyo and has been in office since 2008. He was reelected as governor for four terms and retired honorably without being forced to resign. He was deeply respected by the local industry and successfully handed over the reins of municipal government.
Kumamoto Castle
In terms of demand and supply, attracting investment from semiconductor-related manufacturers and cultivating semiconductor talents as much as possible is “the more the better” for each county. However, under the guidance of cross-domain governance, each local government will not compete for equipment. There will be vicious competition among factories, or it will be held back. Each local government will plan the most appropriate plan based on its own financial conditions and development goals. “TSMC did not settle in Taoyuan, so the mayor of Taoyuan should be scolded.” dilemma.
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For example, Kumamoto Prefecture, which has benefited from TSMC’s dividends, is aiming to become an aviation city in the future, hoping to attract more investment through town building; Saga Prefecture has SUMCO, a large company with the world’s largest silicon wafer market share. Third, it has received a subsidy of 75 billion yen to add factories; Fukuoka City, a major industrial and commercial town in Kyushu, has called for tutoring 2.5 semiconductor talents within 5 years; Okinawa, a major tourist county, is not only sunny and sandy, Okinawa University is expected to cooperate with Chengchi University , increase the number of exchange students, and study semiconductor security strategies. Yamaguchi Prefecture, Abe’s hometown, which Taiwanese are familiar with, actually extends beyond the territory of Kyushu. This year, under the concept of “ALL KYUSYU” cross-border governance, we will strive to build a factory to prevent Kumamoto from being ahead of the curve. There is competition among counties, but they are basically within the framework of the “Semiconductor and Digital Industry Strategy”.
Is good local governance crucial to the success or failure of semiconductor factory establishment?
No matter how powerful the country itself is, the national legal person itself does not represent technology and manufacturing capabilities. If political power is improperly involved in the semiconductor industry, it sometimes even becomes unproductive interference. Japan has followed the concept of the United States and quickly turned the country into an important “key player” in the semiconductor industry. In the past, multinational companies that focused on profit and technology were forced to return to the boundaries of sovereign countries. In the future, they will all be ” The pursuit of maximum profit in the “chip game”.
Semiconductor-related industries must be able to take off, strengthen the resilience of the supply chain, and this industrial pie can spill over to various industries. Japan is shaping a new type of local governance.
Ling Media original website:Wang Keyin’s Column/TSMC Kumamoto Plant opens Lantern Festival, Japan competes to recruit semiconductors, leads Germany and the United States
2024-02-08 16:00:00
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