A state lawmaker in South Williamsport says he sees potential for bringing a semiconductor chip manufacturing plant from Taiwan to this region to create jobs and boost the economy.

“We want to produce chips here,” said state Rep. Jamie Flick, R-South Williamsport.

Taiwan is a global leader of microchips, those minuscule parts that are the brains for computers.

In a visit with the editorial board of the Sun-Gazette, Flick said such potential exists due to his forging a longstanding association with whom he became a friend — Taiwan Ambassador Tom Chih-Chiang Lee, director-general Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, New York.

Flick serves on the House of Representatives’ Manufacturing and Taiwan caucuses, which will join others on Aug. 1 traveling to the island nation in a multi-state effort to advocate and promote regional trade and manufacturing opportunities.

In 2020, Flick’s household was a host family assigned to Taiwan and became close with the diplomat.

Today, the island nation is legally recognized as part of the People’s Republic of China, with its national capital in Beijing, under the U.S.’s “One China” policy.

It remains a world leader in the production of advanced electrical components such as microchips.

Bringing the plant here would be a win-win as this has direct ties to tariffs placed on the chip makers, who would not be assessed tariffs if the chips are made in the U.S., Flick explained.

Such a microchip manufacturing plant that would be built or established here would be a Taiwanese company, Flick said, citing the success of Chance Aluminium, in which CEO and owner, Dr. Jack Cheng, a first-generation Chinese immigrant, developed close working relationships with officials in Harrisburg and Lycoming County.

Today, Chance Aluminum’s facility, located across from the county landfill along Route 15, is a sprawling manufacturing plant that provides family-sustaining wages and employment to the region’s workforce.

During a 2024 visit, Lee toured Pennsylvania College of Technology and remarked then how the campus was “impressive,” and thinking in the future “we can build some cooperation between the college and Taiwan,” so more students from Asia can attend.

Flick told the Sun-Gazette he was hoping his longstanding association with Lee will yield dividends for both countries.

Not only has Lee sat by his friend at the annual Little League World Series games, and at baseball games in Pittsburgh and in Philadelphia, but Flick said he also attends quarterly meetings with Lee in Manhattan gaining insight into Taiwan.

Two years ago, Lee was in Harrisburg to be recognized as was his nation with a resolution as he visited both chambers.

Officials marked the 45th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act with Lee hearing from state Sen. Gene Yaw, R-Loyalsock Township who made remarks about the friendship between the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Taiwan.

Lee visited the House and Senate for the event, spending time with several elected officials discussing the state’s importance as a trading partner to Taiwan and the significance of cultural and educational exchanges and technological collaboration between the two nations.

“Taiwan and Pennsylvania have long enjoyed dynamic interaction in fields of economy, education, science and technology,” Lee said. “Our partnership’s success would not be possible without the support of our friends in the state legislature.”

“I assure you that Taiwan remains committed to further enhancing this partnership, and I look forward to working with each of you to further strengthen our constructive partnership in the years ahead,” Lee said.