Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited has agreed to invest EUR1.1 billion, which was about USD1.4 billion, in ASML, one of the largest chip manufacturers in the world, to ensure its access to the latest chip-making technologies in the future.

Prior to this, Intel also signed a similar agreement with ASML and it invested USD4.1 billion in ASML.

According to a report published by ASML, Taiwan's TSMC will acquired a 5% stake in ASML for USD838 million and the company promised to make additional investments of EUR276 million for the development of next-generation lithography technologies, including extreme ultraviolet lithography, a new way of printing circuit patterns onto silicon wafers; and equipment that can handle a larger size of circular wafers from which chips are cut.

Eric Meurice, chief executive officer of ASML, said that the goal of this jointly invested project is to ensure and accelerate the development of lithography technologies. These technologies will benefit the entire industry, not only the cooperating partners who invested in this project.