In a report, Japan’s Nikkei newspaper said, around 20 Japanese companies, including electronic component maker Ibiden Co, will collaborate with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to develop chip manufacturing technology in Japan. Fifty percent of $337 million (37 billion yen), the cost of the research facility, will be borne by the Japanese government

In February, TSMC had said it plans on spending $178 million to open a material research subsidiary near Tokyo.

In a statement TSMC said, that facility “aims to leverage more expertise in the field of materials to bring value to the industry”; it went on to add, “We appreciate the support from Japan’s government for us to drive semiconductor technology advancement together with TSMC’s partners in Japan”.

Japan wants to collaborate with the TSMC so as to stay competitive in the burgeoning chip market which is seeing heightened demand following the introduction of 5G infrastructure, artificial intelligence (AI), autonomous driving technology, and data centers.

($1 = 109.7000 yen)