Taiwan, Slovakia sign automotive technology development agreement

Prague, Sept. 3 (CNA) Taiwan's representative office in Slovakia signed an agreement with a Slovak university and a research group from the Central European country on Tuesday to focus on automotive technology development under a semiconductor cooperation scheme.

In a statement, the office said David Lee (李南陽), Taiwan's representative to Slovakia, signed the cooperation accord with Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava (STUBA) President Oliver Moravčík and head of the Institute of Electrical Engineering Slovak Academy of Sciences (IEE SAS) Vladimír Cambel.

It is the second cooperation agreement after the Taiwan office signed the first phase accord with STUBA and IEE SAS in September 2023.

According to the office, the second phase of cooperation will continue for four years. Taiwan's government will entrust its sponsored Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) to assist Slovakia in building two semiconductor power module packaging and testing labs.

The Slovakia government assigned STUBA and IEE SAS -- as stipulated in the first agreement -- to carry out the second phase of the cooperation and work with ITRI to develop semiconductor technologies and train semiconductor talent for the Central European country.

The representative office said the second stage has kicked off, given the first phase of cooperation was completed on schedule. Slovakia will send personnel to ITRI in Taiwan for training and the transfer and licensing of semiconductor technologies.

Lee said in the statement that the second phase aims to develop necessary technologies to produce inverters for electric vehicles.

Lee added that at a time of significant investments by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) in Germany, Taiwan is also planning to help Slovakia develop a semiconductor ecosystem and supply chain. This is expected to build a bridge between Taiwanese investors and the European semiconductor industry.

On Aug. 20, TSMC broke ground on a 12-inch wafer fab in Dresden, Germany, through a joint venture called European Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (ESMC), which includes Robert Bosch GmbH, Infineon Technologies AG and NXP Semiconductors N.V.

In response, Moravčík said Taiwan leads its peers in semiconductor manufacturing and serves as one of Europe's most important chip development partners.

Moravčík added Slovakia will learn from Taiwan's expertise in semiconductor development, which will help it improve its technologies and become a critical part of the semiconductor ecosystem in Europe.

In recent years, the representative office said, Taiwan has started a series of cooperation deals with Slovakia, including on 3D scanning technologies development and smart garbage treatment technologies.

In June 2023, Slovakia's Ministry of Economy led a government delegation to Taiwan and signed multiple agreements there regarding semiconductor, healthcare and cultural cooperation.