Aušrinė Armonaitė: “We will work to make Lithuania a leader in strengthening Europe’s semiconductor capabilities”
Lithuania aims to create a semiconductor ecosystem that enables our companies to play an important role in regional supply chains, to meet the needs of local industry, and to contribute to strengthening the EU’s autonomy in this strategic market.
Aušrinė Armonaitė, Minister for the Economy and Innovation, attending the Competitive Europe Summit organised by the influential publication Politico in Brussels, stresses the need for closer coordination between Member States and the EC in monitoring semiconductor supply and demand and anticipating potential challenges.
“Lithuania will certainly play an active role in European semiconductor activities as we have the potential to contribute to the EU’s plans to establish itself in the global chip market. Our country has deep-rooted traditions in physical science and a great scientific potential in semiconductor materials and chip architecture,” said Minister for the Economy and Innovation A. Armonaitė.
Lithuania is particularly interested in cooperating with Taiwan, the world’s most important player in the semiconductor market, and in gaining experience in building a semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem in the country. Taiwan can offer knowledge, expertise and specialists, while Lithuania has world-renowned lasers, strong research potential, and good infrastructure.
“The recent ongoing crisis in relations with China and Russia’s aggression in Ukraine have prompted a reassessment of the importance of the EU’s strategic autonomy. In order to meet the rapidly growing demand for chips and to ensure sufficient domestic capacity, Europe needs to invest collectively and substantially to increase chip-making expertise and capacity,” said the Minister.
Security of supply should be promoted by attracting investment and increasing innovative manufacturing capacity, and the €11 billion for advanced semiconductor tools, pilot prototyping lines, and other initiatives is a step in the right direction.