Taiwanese firms in Japan to benefit from 'one-stop' service center: Minister

Taipei, Sept. 2 (CNA) Taiwan's government is planning to set up a one-stop service center in Kyushu, Japan to assist Taiwanese companies that are expanding there, Minister of Economic Affairs Kuo Jyh-huei (郭智輝) said Monday.

The government-funded service will be "like a science park [office]" that will facilitate the needs of Taiwanese companies on Kyushu island and help them with the logistics of establishing businesses there, Kuo told reporters.

"Our service company will be able to provide service to all [Taiwanese] suppliers in Kyushu," Kuo said on the sidelines of a press conference held ahead of SEMICON Taiwan, the annual semiconductor industry expo that opens in Taipei on Wednesday.

Kuo did not specify the exact location of the planned office but said it will not be in Kumamoto, the Kyushu prefecture in which Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has a fab and is preparing to build another one.

Different prefectures in Kyushu are offering different incentives for foreign companies, "so the service company we set up will help organize the information and facilitate the 'localization' of Taiwanese enterprises," he said.

Nagasaki, Oita, Miyazaki, and Kitakyushu are some of the Kyushu prefectures that have expressed interest in welcoming Taiwanese companies, according to the minister.

Currently, the plan is limited to Kyushu, he said in response to a question on whether other Taiwanese one-stop service centers will be set up in Japan in the future.

"For other areas such as Kansai and Kanto, it would depend on the nature of the local industries, as most of the Taiwanese companies currently in Japan are part of the supply chain [for the semiconductor industry]," Kuo said.

Asked about a report that TSMC was planning to build a third fab in Japan, he said that question should be directed to the company.

A Japanese media outlet on Sunday quoted Kuo as saying that TSMC would build a third fab in Japan to produce leading-edge chips after 2030.