From September 8 to 10, Kaohsiung City Deputy Mayor Lo Ta-sheng led a delegation including the Department of Administrative and International Affairs, the Economic Development Bureau, and the Education Bureau to visit Dresden, Germany. On behalf of the Kaohsiung City Government, Lo signed a “Memorandum of Understanding Concerning the Establishment of City Cooperation” with Dresden, aiming to jointly address challenges brought by the semiconductor industry and to expand cooperation in diverse fields. The milestone has been reported by several major German media outlets.
During the visit, the Kaohsiung delegation held in-depth discussions with three Dresden deputy mayors and their teams, and met with representatives from the Technology Center Dresden-Nord (TZD Nord) and Silicon Saxony to explore industry–academia cooperation. The delegation also visited FHD – University of Applied Sciences Dresden and the Dresden Vocational School of Electrical Engineering, opening new possibilities for collaboration in semiconductors, high technology, and education. At the same time, while Kaohsiung officials were in Dresden, the Head of Dresden’s Economic Development Department also paid a special visit to Kaohsiung, underscoring the close exchanges between the two cities.
Located in eastern Germany, Dresden is a cultural and technological hub and home to Europe’s largest semiconductor cluster, earning it the nickname “Silicon Saxony” and even the title “Silicon Valley of Europe.” It gathers leading research institutions and innovative enterprises, and TSMC chose Dresden as the site of its first wafer fab in Europe. Meanwhile, Kaohsiung, an international port city in southern Taiwan, has in recent years welcomed TSMC’s investment and is vigorously developing its semiconductor industry chain, smart city governance, and net-zero transition. The two cities share highly aligned industrial structures and development goals.
On September 9, Kaohsiung and Dresden formally signed the Memorandum of Understanding Concerning the Establishment of City Cooperation. In his remarks, Deputy Mayor Lo Ta-sheng stressed that this marks the beginning of substantive cooperation between the two cities. Going forward, both sides will deepen collaboration in the fields of semiconductors, high technology, and smart cities, while also strengthening educational links to create more learning opportunities for younger generations. Dresden First Deputy Mayor Jan Donhauser emphasized the importance of building a closer cooperation platform between the two cities, a development that has already drawn widespread attention in German media.
First Deputy Mayor Jan Donhauser, Second Deputy Mayor Eva Jähnigen, and Deputy Mayor Jan Pratzka attended the exchange along with their respective departments. Head of Dresden’s Economic Development Department, Steffen Rietzschel, also visited Taiwan, where he met with Kaohsiung Economic Development Bureau Director-General Liao Tai-hsiang on September 8. He shared the latest developments in Dresden’s semiconductor and transport infrastructure, and expressed hopes of expanding higher education cooperation with Taiwan while deepening international talent cultivation.
On the industrial front, Dresden is already home to major international players such as ESMC (currently under construction), Infineon, Bosch, and GlobalFoundries, as well as Silicon Saxony, Europe’s largest semiconductor association, which plays a leading role in industry chain integration. On September 9, the Kaohsiung delegation paid a special visit to the association to gain deeper insight into Europe’s semiconductor development trends and TSMC’s European expansion. The two sides also exchanged views on talent cultivation, renewable energy, and models for industrial cooperation.
On September 10, the delegation focused on educational exchanges, visiting FHD – University of Applied Sciences Dresden, known for its small class sizes and practice-oriented teaching, and for actively promoting industry–academia collaboration and international exchange. Both sides discussed talent cultivation, academic programs, and AI applications in depth. The delegation also met with Taiwanese students attending summer courses there, listening to their learning experiences and time in Germany in a warm and lively discussion.
The Kaohsiung delegation further visited the Dresden Vocational School of Electrical Engineering, the largest vocational training institution in Saxony. Its core programs cover energy technology, mechanical engineering, microelectronics, and information engineering, providing professional training courses of two to three-and-a-half years. The school has recently become a partner of ESMC and is launching a campus reconstruction project to transform into a semiconductor industry training center. This will address Dresden’s growing talent needs, with student enrolment expected to rise further next year.
Chang Yen-ching, Director-General of the Department of Administrative and International Affairs, noted that Kaohsiung is committed to city diplomacy. By building official links with cities abroad, Kaohsiung hopes to foster more substantive cooperation while also raising its international profile through coverage in foreign media. Following the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with Dresden, the city government will continue to coordinate across departments to promote bilateral cooperation in both industry and education.