NY CREATES and the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) today announced a strategic partnership to drive international collaboration in the semiconductor industry, highlighting a commitment to promoting advanced chips-related research and development, technology alliances, and workforce development across the high-tech ecosystems of New York’s Capital Region and Japan.
Officials from the New York Center for Research, Economic Advancement, Technology, Engineering, and Science (NY CREATES), based in Albany, N.Y., and JETRO, based in Tokyo, Japan, formalized this agreement with a ceremonial signing by NY CREATES President Dave Anderson and JETRO Chairman Norihiko Ishiguro at JETRO’s headquarters in Tokyo on December 9. Through this new partnership, NY CREATES and JETRO intend to connect leading organizations in both the U.S. and Japan, leveraging their networks to drive innovation in semiconductor technologies while leveraging each other’s strengths to bolster their respective high-tech ecosystems.
“As we embark on this new collaboration with JETRO, NY CREATES looks forward to building upon our strong connections with Japan’s technological ecosystem,” said Dave Anderson, President of NY CREATES. “We have a deep history of working closely with industry partners and are home to Tokyo Electron’s (TEL) Technology Center America which has acted as TEL’s R&D center in the U.S. for more than 20 years. Now, this partnership with JETRO represents a critical step in pursuing additional synergies between our semiconductor R&D, workforce, and economic advancement efforts and Japan’s renowned expertise in technology and innovation. We are excited to work together to accelerate R&D breakthroughs and workforce development initiatives.”
“It is very meaningful for us to collaborate with the cutting-edge semiconductor ecosystem centered around NY CREATES, in order to attract U.S. semiconductor companies and to support R&D and human resource exchange in the industry,” said Ishiguro Norihiko, Chairman and CEO of JETRO. “Moreover, from an economic security perspective, we believe that it is important to build a supply chain for semiconductors, and to facilitate international collaboration. We pursue ways to help foster and advance the semiconductor industry, making use of the unique characteristics of regions in Japan, to strengthen the foundation of the innovation ecosystems, and to collaborate with governments, research institutes, industrial organizations, and other entities in various key countries to provide flexible support for cross-border connections.”
The agreement outlines several core objectives and activities to strengthen U.S.-Japan relations in the semiconductor sector, including jointly organizing events such as seminars, conferences, business missions, and other networking engagements to encourage knowledge-sharing and foster cross-border connections. The partnership will also aim to pursue potential opportunities for joint programs with Japan’s local ecosystems, enhancing the connectivity between NY CREATES and Japanese organizations to support collaborative innovation. Through JETRO’s extensive network, Japanese local governments, universities, and companies will have opportunities to explore partnerships with NY CREATES, while NY CREATES will concurrently connect JETRO with its U.S.-based network of universities and technology firms. This partnership will also emphasize the importance of workforce training and development; both JETRO and NY CREATES will work together to find additional ways to prepare the talent pool to meet the growing demands of the semiconductor industry in both the U.S. and Japan.
In August, New York Governor Hochul announced a new semiconductor R&D and workforce development agreement with the government of Hokkaido, Japan. The partnership, facilitated by Hokkaido, is enhancing cooperation and deepening links between NY CREATES’ Albany NanoTech Complex, the largest non-profit semiconductor research and development facility of its kind in North America, and Rapidus, a burgeoning Japanese semiconductor firm under construction in Chitose that will produce two-nanometer chips, to continue to drive innovation and economic prosperity in both regions.
In October, NY CREATES’ Albany NanoTech Complex was designated as the location of the flagship National Semiconductor Technology Center facility, the CHIPS for America EUV Accelerator. The EUV Accelerator is expected to drive significant investment in Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography R&D under the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act, with initial federal funding of $825 million to be unlocked to enable this critical initiative.
