France is preparing its biggest foray yet into Asia's semiconductor heartland. At SEMICON Taipei next week, Paris will field its largest industrial delegation on record, a move that signals an ambition to plant itself firmly in the global supply chain—not through wafer fabs, but through advanced packaging.
At a recent briefing in Taipei, Franck Paris, director of the French Office, also offered new details on Foxconn's planned €250 million packaging facility in France.
A record French pavilion
The "Choose France Pavilion," first introduced at SEMICON Taiwan last year, will return in force. At least 15 companies and more than 60 delegates will represent France, the largest footprint ever at the trade fair. The group spans established names such as STMicroelectronics and Veolia, alongside start-ups working on design automation, nanometric manufacturing and quantum technologies.
The mission's reach extends beyond business. A French senator, officials from the economy ministry and a large team from CEA-Leti—the country's leading microelectronics research institute, now with a permanent presence in Taiwan—will all join. Academic workshops will touch on spintronics and circuit energy supply, areas that France hopes to turn into long-term strengths.
Credit: Digitimes
Why packaging, not fabs
Unlike Germany, which secured TSMC's first European wafer fab, France has chosen a different role. "Our priority is to upgrade advanced packaging," Mr Paris said, calling it the most innovative part of the industry.
The reasoning is partly strategic: France's defence and aerospace sectors require specialised chips with unusual resilience and reliability. More broadly, splitting manufacturing in Germany and packaging in France offers, in Paris's view, a complementary foundation for Europe's semiconductor sovereignty.
Paris on TSMC
Much of Mr. Franck Paris's briefing touched—directly or indirectly—on TSMC, underscoring its gravitational pull in any European semiconductor discussion.
He pointed first to SiPearl's Rhea1 processor, a French-designed energy-efficient microchip that will be manufactured by TSMC. That choice, he said, illustrates both Europe's reliance on the Taiwanese foundry and the ambition to anchor French innovation in global supply chains.
Paris also recalled that when former Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen visited France in 2024, her delegation included TSMC executives. Their encounter with French start-ups, he said, was eye-opening—an initial recognition of the advanced capabilities embedded in France's ecosystem.
The comparison with Foxconn's €250 million packaging project was deliberate. France, he stressed, never sought "a jigger factory in the TSMC way." Whereas TSMC's megafabs in Arizona or its new site in Germany are built for massive, long-run volumes, France's near-term focus is advanced packaging for defense and aerospace, sectors where performance and resilience outweigh scale.
TSMC's presence in Germany, he added, has already spurred suppliers to expand into central Europe. By the same logic, Paris hopes Foxconn's footprint in France will act as a magnet for other Taiwanese partners.
When pressed on whether France is courting a TSMC fab, he was candid: "Everyone in the world wants TSMC to invest in this place," he said. "But we need to be realistic." For now, the national strategy is to build leadership in packaging, not to replicate TSMC's colossal fabs. Still, he left the invitation open: "If TSMC wants to come to France tomorrow, they will be welcome."
Credit: Digitimes
Foxconn's French footprint
Central to that effort is Foxconn's planned packaging facility, a joint venture with Thales and Radiall announced in May. The plant aims to produce 100 million modules annually by 2031, marking the first significant Taiwanese semiconductor investment in France.
Mr Paris said the project is already evolving:
Broader European participation is being discussed, with new partners expected to join before year's end. The site location will be settled in the same timeframe, with at least five French regions competing to host it. Construction is projected to take two years once chosen.
The scheme is undergoing EU review for subsidy approval, with Paris lobbying for swift clearance.
He described the investment as a "breakthrough" that could attract more Taiwanese suppliers to France, particularly those tied to Foxconn's ecosystem.
Other Franco-Taiwanese collaborations are already underway, including Soitec's work with PSMC on 3D stacking and Cathay Ventures' stake in SiPearl, the French firm designing a European GPU.
Strategic ties in a geopolitical moment
France's manoeuvre is more than industrial policy. It is part of Europe's broader attempt to hedge against supply shocks, a lesson learned during COVID-19 and reinforced by escalating US-China technology tensions. For Taiwan, which sits at the centre of those rivalries, the French overture offers another avenue of strategic partnership.
Mr. Franck Paris struck an optimistic note on the deepening ties, describing it as "a very exciting moment between France and Taiwan, and more broadly between Europe and Taiwan." He said the partnership now carries "real momentum at a time when the geopolitical context makes such cooperation especially meaningful," adding that the relationship is becoming "increasingly strategic."
Article edited by Joseph Chen
