© Reuters. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a joint press conference with South Korean President Yoon Sok Yul after their meeting at the Presidential Office in Seoul on May 7, 2023. JONG EUN JI/POOL via REUTERS
TOKYO (Reuters) – Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he welcomes and expects more investment from global chipmakers in Japan, which has been striving to revive the chip sector, after meeting top executives on Thursday ahead of a Group of Seven summit.
China is set to be at the top of the agenda at the annual meeting of G7 leaders that begins on Friday, as the United States increasingly urges its allies to take on the Asian giant’s chip and advanced technology development.
Growing tensions between Taiwan and the United States with China have brought serious challenges to the semiconductor industry, as Taiwan has become a major producer of chips used in everything from cars and smartphones to fighter jets.
Kishida told executives, including those from Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ :), Intel Corp (NASDAQ:) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), that the stability of supply chains will be a topic of discussion at the G7 talks in the western city of Hiroshima.
“I am very pleased with your positive attitude towards investing in Japan, and I would like the government as a whole to increase direct investment in Japan and support the semiconductor industry,” Kishida said.
An Industry Ministry official said later that Kishida wanted to boost cooperation to strengthen semiconductor supply chains, while Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said Japan would use 1.3 trillion yen ($9.63 billion) from the last fiscal year’s supplementary budget to support the chip business.
In particular, Kumamoto Prefecture in southwestern Japan is fast becoming a hotbed of technology investment from companies including TSMC and Fujifilm Holdings Corp.
Micron said in a statement that it will bring extreme ultraviolet (EUV) technology to Japan, becoming the first semiconductor company to do so, and expects to invest up to 500 billion yen with support from the Japanese government.
Bloomberg News reported that the total fiscal stimulus will be around 200 billion yen.
An official with the Ministry of Industry said that no decision has been made on whether Japan will provide support for Micron, but that support will be made as soon as possible.
The G7 summit runs from Friday to Sunday, and Kishida is scheduled to meet US President Joe Biden later on Thursday. Public support for Kishida has been on the rise in the run-up to the summit, with a poll in Jiji on Thursday showing approval of his government outpacing disapproval for the first time in nine months.
($1 = 135.0500 yen)