President 
Lai Ching-te said on Tuesday that Taiwan's semiconductor industry steadily supplies the global market on a foundation of democracy and the rule of law, keeping its promises, Taiwan's Public Television Service (PTS) reported. Lai spoke at a chip supply-chain summit hosted by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, where he called the industry a model of the global division of labour and cast trust as the basis for cooperation.
What did he propose to Europe? Speaking in English at the 2026 Invest EU Forum in Taipei, Lai called for a Taiwan-Europe semiconductor strategic partnership, Taiwan's Central News Agency (CNA) reported. Taiwan has built a highly integrated industrial ecosystem, while Europe holds world-class strength in R&D, equipment, materials and high-value-added manufacturing, he said, and combining them would help build a safer, more diverse and more resilient global chip ecosystem. He cited the European Commission's draft Chips Act 2.0, published in June, and said he hoped the EU would move to sign double-taxation avoidance and investment protection agreements with Taiwan.
What figures did he cite? Taiwan-EU trade reached nearly US$75 billion last year, making the EU Taiwan's fifth-largest trading partner, and Taiwanese investment in EU countries grew 650 percent over the past decade, Lai said. He welcomed a technology park announced by the Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association, saying it would help more Taiwanese firms invest there.
Who else spoke at the summit? Economic Affairs Minister Kung Ming-hsin said corporate cooperation with Europe is shifting from trade and single-company investment toward joint investment, PTS reported. SEMI president and CEO Ajit Manocha said no country or region can meet the industry's challenges alone, and that Taiwan plays the most central role. The summit also took up silicon photonics, with the global chip market projected at US$1.9 trillion in 2027.
What concerns were raised? Former digital affairs minister Huang Yen-nan said Taiwan trails the US and China, as well as Japan, South Korea and Singapore, in AI infrastructure and computing scale, and must confront bottlenecks in computing power and electricity or risk its sovereign AI development, PTS reported. On recent concerns over alleged origin-laundering at Unimicron, which have raised worries about trust in Taiwan's supply chain, GlobalWafers chair Doris Hsu said the traditional division of labour faces challenges and international pressure is hard to avoid.
Figures referenced: Lai Ching-te. — JudgeMarket.
