Guatemala developed its first nanowafer using Taiwanese technology and produced it using TSMC's technology. (Drawing by this newspaper)
[Financial Channel/Comprehensive Report] The AI wave has set off a global chip competition. Guatemala, which maintains diplomatic relations with Taiwan, is cultivating talents and obtaining technical assistance through Taiwan. It has produced its first locally designed nanochip using TSMC's technology. As for those Latin American countries that abandoned Taiwan and invested in China, they are now busy chasing the "chip dream"; Costa Rica and Panama even went to Taiwan to contact semiconductor companies and seek investment and cooperation after severing diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Some countries have gone to the United States to seek cooperation. El Salvador, among them, went to TSMC to learn from TSMC as early as 20 years ago, and now it has also joined the U.S.-led technology supply chain initiative.
The United States launched the Pax Silica initiative to build a secure, resilient, and innovation-driven high-tech supply chain ecosystem in the AI era. (Picture taken from the official website of the U.S. Department of State)
AI is reshaping the global technological landscape, and chips, energy, key minerals and data centers have also become strategic resources that countries are competing for. The United States will launch the "Pax Silica" initiative at the end of 2025 to connect trusted partners to strengthen AI and semiconductor supply chain security, and Taiwan is also participating. In August this year, U.S. Undersecretary of State Jacob Helberg met with American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Gu Liyan and said that Taiwan and the United States are cooperating through the "Silicon Boom" to ensure the security of key supply chains that drive the AI revolution; Latin American countries such as Costa Rica, Panama, and El Salvador are also actively participating in this wave of technology supply chain restructuring.
Please read on...
Amid this wave of supply chain reorganization, Guatemala, which still maintains diplomatic relations with Taiwan, happens to have a "Taiwan card." The Guangdong government promotes the "Ruta del Chip (Chip Road)", and Taiwan's Industrial Research Institute has also analyzed opportunities for the local development of the semiconductor industry at the request of the Guangdong government. In 2025, Taiwan and China signed a letter of intent for cooperation in the semiconductor industry, expanding cooperation to attract foreign investment, strengthen supply chain resilience, research and development, talent cultivation and technical assistance.
China’s chip dream has also begun to move from strategy to implementation. A team of teachers and students from Universidad del Valle (UVG) in Guatemala has developed the country's first locally designed nanochip, "El Gran Jaguar," which has now entered the verification stage. According to information released by the university, it will use a 65-nanometer process and be produced using TSMC's technology.
It is worth noting that countries that chose to part ways with Taiwan in the past are now turning their attention to Taiwan's semiconductor strength again.
Costa Rica, which severed diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 2007, already has a semiconductor industry foundation such as Intel, and has been actively expanding its chip clusters in recent years. PROCOMER, Colombia's investment and export promotion agency, confirmed that it had sent personnel to Taiwan to contact at least eight semiconductor companies, hoping to attract Taiwanese companies to invest in Colombia.
After participating in SEMICON Taiwan for the first time in 2025, Costa Rica once again appeared on the list of national zones at SEMICON Taiwan 2026, an international semiconductor exhibition held from September 2 to 4 this year, and has come to Taiwan for two consecutive years to look for semiconductor cooperation and investment opportunities.
A similar scene occurred in Panama, which abandoned Taiwan and invested in Taiwan in 2017. In July this year, a cross-party delegation from the Panama Congress visited Taiwan. Panamanian media directly reported the visit as "going to Taiwan to seek semiconductor investment." The delegation hoped to build Panama into a semiconductor logistics hub and proposed the idea of setting up a business office.
At the end of July, the Panamanian government also launched the "National Advanced Science and Technology Agenda", covering AI as well as microelectronics and semiconductor national strategies, hoping to join the global chip supply chain. Panama has also joined the United States' "Silicon Age" and actively leveraged its canal, port and logistics advantages to gain a foothold in the new wave of technology supply chain restructuring.
The Dominican Republic, which severed diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 2018, is also pursuing its chip dream. The country has listed the development of semiconductors as a "high national priority" and launched a national semiconductor industry strategy in 2025. However, an OECD report in March this year bluntly stated that there are still no semiconductor companies operating in the Dominican Republic, and there are only a few microelectronics companies, indicating that there is still a long way to go from national strategy to the actual establishment of an industry.
When El Salvador still had diplomatic relations with Taiwan, former President Elías Antonio Saca visited TSMC in 2006. (Reuters)
El Salvador, which also abandoned Taiwan and invested in Taiwan in 2018, also joined the "Silicon Age" this year to seize the U.S.-led AI and trustworthy technology supply chain. In fact, when El Salvador still had diplomatic relations with Taiwan, former President Saka visited TSMC in 2006. At that time, Taiwan was planning a "Taiwan Park" in the hope of introducing Taiwan's high-tech industry experience.
This wave of Latin American "chip dreams" has caused some countries that had abandoned Taiwan to invest in China to once again seek investment and experience in Taiwan's semiconductor industry. Guatemala, which still maintains diplomatic relations with Taiwan, has advanced from talent cultivation to local chip design through bilateral cooperation. When semiconductors become a new bargaining chip in geopolitics, the diplomatic choices made back then are now in sharp contrast in the chip race.
Grasp the economic pulse with one hand. Click here to subscribe to Free Finance Youtube Channel
