Samsung Electronics announced on Wednesday that it plans to invest $230 billion over the next two decades as part of a major national drive in South Korea to establish the world’s largest semiconductor production hub near the capital city of Seoul.
According to South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy, this “mega cluster” for chip manufacturing will be established in Gyeonggi Province by 2042, and will include five new Samsung semiconductor factories, as well as the intention to attract 150 additional businesses engaged in producing materials and components or designing advanced chips.
Samsung has stated that its new plants will be built near its existing domestic factories and will manufacture both higher-value logic chips with a broader range of capabilities and computer memory chips for data storage.
As the global leader in memory, Samsung is striving to expand its footprint in cutting-edge CPUs in anticipation of increased demand as upcoming technologies such as 5G wireless networks, artificial intelligence, and self-driving cars gain popularity.
As mentioned on Wednesday, the semiconductor cluster is one of the aspects of the government’s bigger objectives to assist the six core technological businesses that the country considers most important for its export-oriented economy.
In addition to semiconductors, these industries include biotechnology, robots, electric cars, rechargeable batteries, and displays. The government intends to attract 550 trillion won ($422 million) in industry investment by 2026.
The United States, Japan, and China are all increasing domestic chip production at the same time that South Korea is pursuing a foreign investment plan that includes protectionist policies, substantial subsidies, and tax breaks.
