World's No.1 Semiconductor Equipment Company AMAT to Establish R&D Center in Gyeonggi-do

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Applied Materials (AMAT), the world's No. 1 U.S. semiconductor etching and deposition company, will establish a research and development center in Gyeonggi-do.

On the 6th, Gyeonggi-do announced that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Applied Materials, the world's No. 1 semiconductor and display equipment manufacturer headquartered in Silicon Valley, USA, at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul to establish a core R&D center for next-generation advanced semiconductor equipment in Gyeonggi-do.

At the signing ceremony, Gyeonggi-do Governor Kim Dong-yeon said, "I am very pleased that with today's agreement with Applied Materials, Gyeonggi-do has attracted next-generation research centers of semiconductor equipment companies ranked from first to fourth in the world," and expressed expectations, saying, "(With this agreement) I firmly believe that Gyeonggi-do will become the mecca of semiconductors, revitalizing the economy of Gyeonggi-do and South Korea and creating a new framework for the South Korean economy."

The world's top four semiconductor equipment companies include Applied Materials, the Netherlands' ASML, which Samsung Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong recently visited, U.S.-based Lam Research, and Japan's Tokyo Electron (TEL). Among domestic semiconductor equipment companies, the largest is Semes, an unlisted subsidiary of Samsung Electronics.

According to the agreement, Applied Materials will engage in research on next-generation advanced semiconductor core technologies and support strengthening the global competitiveness of its customers. However, while Applied Materials has confirmed the broad plan to establish the R&D center in Gyeonggi-do, the final scale, timing, and location of the investment have not yet been finalized.

Gyeonggi-do had strategically promoted attracting global semiconductor equipment companies' R&D centers to strengthen the semiconductor supply chain weakened since the 2019 Japanese export restrictions, resulting in successfully attracting Applied Materials' core semiconductor research facilities to Gyeonggi-do.

Applied Materials is a company with unparalleled technological capabilities producing most of the core semiconductor process equipment, which is expected to greatly help domestic memory semiconductor-related companies secure global competitiveness.

In particular, this investment agreement was conducted as part of the Global Investment Summit (GIS) event held by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy for foreign investors.

Companies such as DuPont, Merck, Air Liquide, and Solvay, from the semiconductor and bio sectors, attended the event.

At the event, Governor Kim promised, "I pledge to create a one-stop service for foreign investment in Gyeonggi-do," adding, "Even if there are minor difficulties in investing in Gyeonggi-do, we will work together to consider and resolve them through the one-stop service. If something is not possible, we will explain why."