City of Dresden: Dresden deepens partnership with Taiwan in the semiconductor and smart city sectors

The state capital Dresden draws a consistently positive conclusion from its most recent delegation trip to Taiwan from March 15 to 21, 2026. Dresden attracted a great deal of attention at two international smart city conferences with its innovative urban development projects and local companies. Mayor Dirk Hilbert presented the city at the international smart city conferences “Net Zero City Leaders Summit” and the “Taipei International Cities Forum”, to which Dresden was the only European representative invited.

Mayor Dirk Hilbert: “We have nothing to hide in international comparison. Dresden’s smart city projects and plans for the use of artificial intelligence met with an enormous response in Taiwan. Accordingly, there was great interest from politics, business and science in Taiwan to further develop these topics together, such as linking the EUDI and Taiwan Wallet.”

During the trip, it was agreed to drive forward cooperation on digital identities. One specific goal is to establish usability between the European EUDI wallet and the Taiwan wallet. This should enable citizens and business travelers to use digital documents and proof of identity across borders and with legal certainty in the future.

Prof. Dr. Michael Breidung, Head of the city’s own IT department and participant in the delegation: “The electronic wallet is currently in the introductory phase in both Europe and Taiwan. Many technical and regulatory issues still need to be clarified for mutual recognition. But the goal of digitally facilitating exchanges between Dresden and Taiwan is definitely worth the effort.”

The delegation met with the top management of TSMC, the world’s leading contract manufacturer of microelectronics, which is currently building a chip factory in Dresden at a cost of ten billion euros, to discuss the progress of the project, which is proceeding according to plan. The group also gained an in-depth insight into TSMC’s sustainability strategy. The focus is on the careful use of water as a resource and wastewater treatment in chip production.

Mayor Dirk Hilbert signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Taiwanese capital Taipei, which establishes cooperation in the areas of the semiconductor industry, smart city and education. Such an agreement was already concluded with the city of Kaohsiung in September 2025. As part of the most recent trip, the Dresden delegation exchanged views with the city leaders of Kaohsiung on the networking that has already taken place, particularly in the field of education.

Finally, the delegation met the heads of the biotechnology institutes in the National Biotechnology Research Park in Taipei. Here, too, it was agreed to establish new contacts between Taiwan and Dresden, as Dresden also has top expertise in this field with its Cluster of Excellence.

City Councillor Kristin Sturm-Karls and City Councillors Patrick Probst, Matteo Böhme and Tilo Kießling drew a thoroughly positive conclusion: “Against the background of the strategic orientation of Dresden as a business location, Taiwan is an important partner. It was important for members of the city council to be able to see for themselves on site so that the council decisions required to intensify this partnership can continue to be made quickly and in a targeted manner. It was impressive to see how visible Dresden already is in Taiwan.”

The presence of the Dresden delegation in Taiwan met with an overwhelming and wide-ranging media response. Numerous leading Taiwanese media outlets – including the Taipei Times, Taiwan News and the state news agency CNA – reported extensively on the visit. In particular, the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Dresden and Taipei was seen as a strategic milestone for European-Asian cooperation. Dresden was portrayed as the center of “Silicon Saxony” and a central partner for Taiwan’s global semiconductor strategy. The trip by the Dresden delegation was seen in the Taiwanese media as an important step towards securing the economic and technological axis between Saxony and Taiwan in the long term.

This translation was generated automatically. 

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