Gyeonggi-do Gov. Kim Dong-yeon returned home after wrapping up his first visit to Europe, in which he succeeded in attracting investments worth 3 trillion won.
His overseas trip, also known as ‘semiconductor diplomacy’, may construed as serving as an opportunity for the Korean semiconductor market to ponder their respective vision and tasks ahead with ASML and ASM, in which he visited global players.
It is noteworthy that the global players have established a partnership with Gyeonggi-do, a provincial government, rather than the central government.
Speaking of his latest overseas trip in his meeting with reporters on Nov. 1, Gov. Kim said, “I’ve learned a lot of things, and even though investments are a significant matter, I have to ponder what the future of the semiconductor industry is like and what about the future growth engine.”
The biggest achievement of his trip to Europe is attracting investments worth 3 trillion won. Gov. Kim struck an MOU with ASM at ASM headquarters in Almere, the Netherlands, on Oct. 31. Kim attracted investments worth 3 trillion won from the ASM side.
A report to the Gyeonggi-do provincial council, made by Gyenggi-do, showed that ASM plans to provide financial support worth a combined 3 trillion won to its Korean operation.
ASM plans to support its cooperative companies in the province through purchasing of their products by initially investing 1.5 trillion won 1.5 trillion won by 2027 and invest an additional 1.5 trillion won by 2030.
The deal on supporting investments is different from attracting investments to expand the existing research facilities and plants.
The agreement is a kind of a “purchase contract” in which ASM will give priority to purchasing products of its cooperative companies in the province. as time goes by, the deal is expected to have an effect of attracting 3 trillion won or more.
Gyeonggi-do Gov. Kim Dong-yeon gives words of encouragement while meeting with Korean students at Eindhoven University of Technology in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
Gov. Kim’s tour to Europe has served as an opportunity to confirm the stability of Korean semiconductor market and establish Korea’s status as a partner with the global players.
.“One of his reasons for visiting ASML and ASM was that I wanted to discuss on outlooks of the semiconductor market candidly, and amid mixed predictions over the semiconductor market, I expected the market to be stabilized in a long-term perspective,” Gov. Kim said.
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