Japan, Belgium to cooperate in chip production, development

By MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — A newly founded Japanese semiconductor company aiming to revive Japan’s chip industry will collaborate with a Belgian research organization in research and development of next-generation chips for production in Japan. Economy and Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura told reporters Tuesday that the new company, Rapidus, which was launched last month by eight big corporations including automakers, electronics giants and chipmakers, will team up with Imec, a Belgium-based research organization known for the nanoelectronics and digital technologies key to developing next-generation chips. Japan’s government is spending 70 billion yen ($510 million) to encourage domestic chip production while collaborating with the United States.