Taiwan’s cabinet has approved a plan to establish its own Silicon Valley in the south of the island.
Dubbed the ‘Greater Southern New Silicon Valley Promotion Plan,’ it seeks to expand compute power by linking multiple science and technology industrial parks in Tainan, Chiayi, Kaohsiung, and Pingtung.
The plan will also see the government establish a semiconductor corridor in the region to attract the necessary industry talent, preparing Taiwan for the artificial intelligence (AI) era and promoting industrial integration.
According to a report from Taiwan Economic Daily, TSMC is planning to build a number of new fabs at the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Tainan, including Fab 25 where it will look to produce its 1nm process node, and facilities for the production of 2nm and 1.4nm chips.
Speaking in January after the company posted its Q4 2024 earnings, TSMC chairman C.C. Wei said the chipmaker would continue to invest in Taiwan and build factories in the region. The company also currently has three fabs under construction in Arizona, USA, however, the sites have been hit by delays and worker shortages.
Multiple Taiwanese government agencies will be required to support the plan by introducing measures to improve water supply, power supply, medical care, transportation, and cultural facilities.
Such measures include connecting reservoirs and regional power grids, increasing the use of recycled water, and increasing the use of green energy such as photovoltaic – the process by which thermal energy, rather than solar radiation, is converted into electricity.
Vice minister of the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Su Chen-kang said the government hopes the measures would also lead to major international and domestic companies setting up R&D centers in southern Taiwan.
Earlier this month, US President Trump announced plans to impose tariffs on foreign-made computer chips and semiconductors, in particular those originating from Taiwan, claiming that it would incentivize tech companies to manufacture chips in the US instead of Taiwan.
At present, Taiwanese chip companies produce about 60 percent of the world's chips, but more than 90 percent of leading-edge chips, including Nvidia's data center GPUs.