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 has signed an agreement to collaborate with a Belgian research organization in developing next-generation chips for production in Japan. Economy and Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura says the new company, Rapidus, which was launched last month by eight big corporations including automakers, electronics giants and chip manufacturers, is teaming up with Imec, a Belgium-based research organization known for 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.