DRESDEN, Aug 20 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Olaf

Scholz warned against nationalism in the country's east at the

groundbreaking ceremony for a semiconductor plant in Dresden on

Tuesday, warning that such resentment endangered investments in

key future technologies.

"We still need a pro-European Germany that's open to the

world, instead of nationalism and resentment," Scholz said in a

speech at the site of the 10-billion-euro ($11.08 billion) plant

planned with Taiwanese chip giant TSMC and other

investors.

"Openness to the world and confidence - if we preserve this,

if we defend it, then this major investment will certainly not

be the last that we experience in Silicon Saxony and in eastern

Germany," he said.

Germany's domestic chip industry is based in the eastern

state of Saxony, where rising support for populist parties

including the far-right AfD has rattled mainstream parties and

executives ahead of local elections set for Sept. 1.

Scholz described semiconductors as crucial to the country's

industrial survival and climate targets, and stressed the

importance of boosting production in Germany to reduce European

dependence on others within global supply chains.

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