The Japanese government will begin preparing a bill to expand financial aid aimed at increasing local production of semiconductors by both domestic and foreign companies, the Yomiuri newspaper reported Sunday.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida plans to submit the bill to an ordinary Diet session in 2021, the daily reported, citing people it didn’t identify who belong to the administration and ruling party.
Global chip shortages in industries ranging from automotive to entertainment have slowed growth in the world economy as it attempts to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. said earlier this month it will build a chip factory in Japan’s Kumamoto prefecture, with a subsidiary of Sony Group Corp. becoming a minority shareholder in the venture.
The bill will also strengthen the government’s ability to check the country of origin of any computer equipment it purchases, with a goal to block China-made computer devices before they were installed in a national security capacity, the Yomiuri reported.
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