Samsung, SK, Celltrion unveil massive KRW392 trillion investment plan
President Lee expresses gratitude; Chairman Lee commits to super-gap vision
Samsung, SK Hynix, and Celltrion are pouring a mammoth KRW392 trillion investment into the Chungcheong region. President Lee expressed gratitude, comparing this large-scale investment to the “Second Tokyo Declaration.” Samsung Chairman Lee presented a super-gap vision to nurture Chungcheong into a global IT hub.
These companies, along with four central government agencies--including the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Planning and Budget--and four local governments in the Chungcheong region (South Chungcheong, North Chungcheong, Sejong, and Daejeon), signed the “Chungcheong Region Next-Generation Advanced Industry Investment Agreement (MOU)” on July 2 on the occasion of the “Chungcheong Region Advanced Industry Development Vision National Report Meeting” held at Samsung Display's Asan Campus 2.
Each institution divided roles to ensure that the KRW392 trillion investment is executed without interruption. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the ministry in charge, will oversee the establishment of the industrial ecosystem and investment implementation. The Ministry of Economy and Finance will assist in coordinating economic policies. The Ministry of Education will back the cultivation of customized talent, which companies thirst for the most, while the Ministry of Planning and Budget will support essential financial aid such as subsidies. The four local governments on the front lines of investment also plan to contribute to the investment speed battle through full administrative support, including operating an authorization and permission fast track and paying subsidies in accordance with relevant laws and regulations.
Chairman Lee said, “Asan, which was a vast vineyard 30 years ago, has now become the world's largest display complex. Onyang, which was a farmland, has transformed into a state-of-the-art HBM fab, Sejong, which started from scratch, into a substrate base for AI servers, and Cheonan into a next-generation battery base, bringing Samsung's dreams to fruition in Chungcheong.” Lee, chairman, added, “We have confirmed in Chungcheong a virtuous cycle where preemptive investment leads to the development of companies and the entire nation. Chungcheong, the center of the country, will achieve greater growth as a global hub for IT materials and components in the future, and Samsung will make every possible effort for a great leap forward into a super-gap industrial powerhouse.”
President Lee expressed gratitude for the companies' bold investment decisions and conveyed the government's determination to support them. President Lee said, “Just as the foresight of the late Chairman Lee Byung-chull, who declared entry into the semiconductor industry in Tokyo in 1983, made the Republic of Korea a semiconductor powerhouse, Chairman Lee Jae-yong's decision today will lead a new leap forward for advanced industries.”
Dismissing controversies from some quarters regarding pressure on corporate investment, President Lee refuted, “Forcing investments by putting pressure like in the past era of government-directed administration is an old-fashioned practice. The role of the government is to create the optimal condition by providing a rational and transparent system and appropriate support so that companies can settle in the most efficient locations.”
