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A scorching potato: The COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s conflict in opposition to Ukraine have clearly proven that the Western world can’t belief China anymore. The richest international locations on this planet have already began to “de-escalate” over-reliance on China’s manufacturing machine, and now Europe is becoming a member of forces with Japan for know-how analysis and manufacturing.
This week, the European Union despatched Commissioner Thierry Breton to Tokyo for a high-profile assembly with the Japanese authorities. The EU’s Commissioner for Inside Market met with each authorities officers and representatives from personal firms, discussing superior know-how corresponding to semiconductors and provide chain points.
Europe and Japan seem to have agreed to deepen their know-how cooperation, Reuters reported, with Breton highlighting the “excessive significance of securing the semiconductor provide chain.” Each Europe and Japan, in addition to the US, have clearly proven that they plan to cut back the world’s reliance on China, an autocratic nation with an excessive amount of energy over the financial system and numerous know-how markets.
Just like the US, Europe has invested an unprecedented sum of money to strengthen its know-how capabilities in semiconductors and the whole microchip provide chain, and Japan is doing the identical. Tokyo is spending large {dollars} (or yen) on authorities subsidies for the native chip business, with a latest $6.4 billion funding to purchase photoresist maker JSR Corp to advertise business consolidation.
Tokyo can be investing in a Rapidus-led foundry initiative conceived to spice up Japan’s ambitions within the chip manufacturing business, a enterprise with which Breton has had direct discussions. The EU commissioner mentioned that this is a crucial initiative “getting into the appropriate route,” echoing Europe’s comparable ambitions to construct new and superior chip manufacturing capabilities within the Outdated Continent.
Whereas in Tokyo, Breton met with Japan’s Minister for Digital Affairs Taro Kono, Minister of Inside Affairs and Communications Takeaki Matsumoto, and State Minister for Financial system Commerce and Business Fusae Ota. It was the primary EU-Japan Digital Partnership ministerial talks ever, and the Commissioner promised a second spherical of talks to be held in Brussels within the first half of subsequent 12 months.
Chip manufacturing apart, Europe and Japan additionally mentioned a renewed partnership in different superior know-how fields corresponding to undersea cable connectivity – which is one more explanation for friction with China – cyber-security, and extra. AI, after all, was a “very excessive” entry in Breton’s agenda for the EU-Japan assembly.
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