In the span of a few weeks, Arizona has signed three separate MOUs with Taiwan and Japan, each focused on a more practical goal: how to work together. Taiwan is one of Arizona’s largest trading partners, and Japan continues to be a leading source of foreign investment in the state. The relationships have been building for years, but what’s changing now is how coordinated they are becoming.
One agreement connects Arizona with Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and Kumamoto, Japan, through a trilateral memorandum of understanding, regions already tied together through shared manufacturing and supply chain activity. Another brings together the Arizona Commerce Authority, Arizona State University and Japan’s external trade organization to expand research collaboration and workforce development. And in Southern Arizona, a separate agreement links Tucson’s optics and photonics sector with Taiwan’s semiconductor manufacturing base, pairing two areas that rely on each other more than they compete.
This trifecta of agreements focuses on aligning shared workforce pipelines, joint research and supply chain coordination — the parts of the industry that don’t move quickly but tend to determine its success. The timing and the sheer number of agreements point to Arizona’s momentum in building a more complete semiconductor ecosystem, which has attracted more than $214 billion in investment and more than 70 expansions since 2020. Arizona is now tied into manufacturing, research and workforce efforts across Taiwan and Japan.
