Samsung to invest US$230 billion to build world’s largest semiconductor manufacturing base in South Korea

Samsung’s investment will be made over the next 20 years as part of South Korea’s ambitious national project to create a chip-making ‘mega cluster’

This vast production base will be established in Gyeonggi province by 2042, anchored by five new semiconductor plants built by Samsung

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A Samsung Electronics flag flies outside the company’s Seocho office building in Seoul, South Korea, on January 5, 2023. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 7:05pm, 15 Mar 2023

Samsung Electronics said on Wednesday it expects to invest 300 trillion won (US$230 billion) over the next 20 years as part of an ambitious South Korean national project to build the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturing base near the capital, Seoul.

The chip-making “mega cluster”, which will be established in Gyeonggi province by 2042, will be anchored by five new semiconductor plants built by Samsung. It will aim to attract 150 other companies producing materials and components or designing hi-tech chips, according to South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

Samsung’s new plants will be located near its existing domestic factories and will produce both memory chips used for storing data and higher-margin logic chips designed to perform a broader range of functions, the company said.

A giant in the global memory chip business, Samsung is trying to expand its presence in advanced semiconductors, anticipating that demand will soar in coming years with the adoption of new technologies, such as 5G wireless networks, artificial intelligence and self-driving cars.

A bird’s-eye view of Samsung Electronics’ chip production plant at Pyeongtaek, a city located in the southwestern part of Gyeonggi province in South Korea. Photo: Reuters

The semiconductor cluster is part of broader government plans announced on Wednesday to promote six key technology industries the country sees as most crucial for its export-dependent economy.

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