On Monday, industry chief Thierry Breton said the EU and Japan would cooperate more on semiconductors to improve control over critical defense, electronics, and cars technology.
Breton said the EU and Japan would monitor the semiconductor supply chain and exchange researchers and engineers. Japanese semiconductor businesses exploring EU operations will receive EU backing.
“We believe that it’s extremely important to secure the supply chain of semiconductors,” Breton told Reuters in Tokyo, discussing chip and AI cooperation with government and companies.
Japan is subsidizing its chip industry, which leads in materials and equipment but has lost global market share, and a government-backed fund bought photoresist maker JSR Corp (4185.T) for $6.4 billion last week to consolidate the industry.
On Tuesday, Rapidus executives, backed by Japan, will meet Breton.
“I think it’s really an important initiative and going in the right direction,” he added of the foundry venture.
Rapidus uses IBM (IBM.N) and Belgium-based imec to make cutting-edge semiconductors.
The EU and Japan are cooperating more as the bloc pledges to minimize its dependence on China, which is developing high-tech chips.
“We made it very clear we just want to de-risk,” Breton said.
For the first EU-Japan Digital Partnership ministerial meeting, Breton met with Taro Kono, Takeaki Matsumoto, and Fusae Ota.
In a joint statement, they committed to cooperate on undersea cable connectivity, semiconductors, cyber security, and other digital economy areas.
Breton said AI dominated the debate at a subsequent news conference. He indicated Brussels would host another round of discussions in the first half of 2019.
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