Private sector investment targeted, Samsung in focus.
South Korea wants to further develop its high-tech industry with investments of $422 billion. The government wants to encourage the private sector to invest more in the chip industry, but also in the production of displays, batteries, e-cars and other advanced technologies, among other things through tax breaks and other support measures, Reuters reports. A weighty role in the plan unveiled today will be played by Samsung’s new chip factory near the capital, Seoul. The company plans to invest $230 billion there over the next two decades. In addition to private sector investment, the government will provide funding for research and development in strategic technologies.
South Korea is among the leaders in the semiconductor industry, but is still largely dependent on foreign companies for materials, parts and equipment to assemble chips and other products, Bloomberg (paywall) quotes Lee Chang-Yang, Korea’s minister of trade, industry and energy, as saying. Accordingly, the country is currently buzzing, seeking to diversify its supply chains for critical minerals with commodity partnerships with Mongolia and Australia, among others.
Photo: iSTock/Kinsei-TGS
