WASHINGTON, April 9 (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister

Fumio Kishida said on Tuesday he saw opportunities for more

collaboration with the United States in next-generation computer

chips.

Kishida made the comment a day before a summit with U.S.

President Joe Biden that will focus on boosting economic and

defense ties to offset China's growing might.

U.S. tech giant Microsoft ( MSFT ) said on Tuesday it would

invest $2.9 billion over two years to expand its cloud and AI

infrastructure in Japan, its largest investment in the 46 years

it has operated in the Asian country.

Speaking at a roundtable on critical and emerging

technologies hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in

Washington, Kishida referred to chip foundry venture Rapidus.

"In the semi-conductor field, Rapidus is partnering with a

U.S. company in research and development of next generation

chips," Kishida said.

"There will surely be more such opportunities for

collaboration between Japan and the United States."

Rapidus is targeting mass production of cutting-edge chips

on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido from 2027 in partnership

with IBM ( IBM ) and Belgium-based research organisation Imec.

Japan's industry ministry said this month it had approved

subsidies worth up to 590 billion yen ($3.9 billion) for the

chip foundry venture as Tokyo pushes forward with plans to

rebuild the country's chip manufacturing base.

Kishida did not mention China in his brief address to the

chamber, but said of the U.S. and Japan: "It is increasingly

important for our two countries to build resilience in our

economies and together drive growth for the global economy."

The allies are looking to strengthen their control over chip

supply chains given concerns about China's intentions towards

the self-ruled island of Taiwan, which produces the world's most

cutting-edge chips.

China claims Taiwan as it own and has not ruled out using

force to bring it under its control.