Share Tue, 1 June 2021 Japan has signed off on a 37 billion yen ($337 million) semiconductor research project to develop cutting-edge chip technology in the country with the market-leading Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). Taiwan’s chip-making plants are among the largest and most advanced in the world, and the project is intended to boost Japan’s competitiveness in a key sector. The move comes as industry grapples with a global semiconductor shortage that has hampered the manufacturing of numerous products, particularly autos. Around 20 Japanese companies will work with TSMC in the project worth 37 billion yen, with the government paying just over half of that, an official from Tokyo’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry told AFP on June 1.