German state Saxony to establish office in Taiwan for tech collaboration

德國薩克森自由州為了進行技術合作，將在台灣設立辦事處

Saxony is home to Europe's largest semiconductor base


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The German state of Saxony will establish a representative office in Taipei to further cooperation between the German semiconductor base and Taiwan.

Saxony State Minister of Science Sebastian Gemkow said on Thursday (April 20) the state's representative office is expected to open in autumn, and will initially focus on cooperating with Taiwan on education, science, and technology. It is hoped that in the future it can expand to other areas.

“In my eyes, it’s a start, there can be room for more and of course if a company or government shows more interest in developing connections with Saxony I’m sure this would also be more than supported," Gemkow said.

He added he will be discussing ways to strengthen economic cooperation with his counterpart after he returns to Germany on Friday from his three-day visit to Taiwan. “We would also be open to making contacts and working further, and over the years, it can also grow,” he said.

Rector of Saxony’s Desden University of Technology Ursula Staudinger said that while the initial idea behind the representative office was related to science and technology, other Saxon universities may be interested in exploring connections in the field of Sinology. Gemkow also said he was interested in strengthening expertise in this area, and that he plans to speak with universities in Saxony about how to strengthen collaboration in the area of Sinology studies.

On March 16 it was reported that TSMC's talks with the Saxony government about building a new factory in the German state were “serious and advanced”, and the company was negotiating subsidies and further government support for the investment. Gemkow declined to comment directly on the progress of TSMC’s planned Saxony production facility but said that his state has a very strong semiconductor ecosystem, and welcomes anybody who wishes to invest.

“Let’s say we are well prepared for everybody, the necessary infrastructure is there,” he said.

The Saxon delegation is on a three-day visit to Taiwan, and on Wednesday (April 19) Gemkow met with Minister of the National Science and Technology Council Wu Tsung-tsong (吳政忠) to sign one of the several cooperation agreements scheduled for his time in the country.

The German state of Saxony is home to Silicon Saxony, Europe’s largest microelectronics industry cluster, and the state produces the most semiconductors of any European country, with about 2,400 companies involved in the industry.