KOTRA Attracts $1.5 Trillion Investment in the US... 7 Companies Including Applied Materials

North America Investment Declaration Ceremony and Investor Roundtable Held
Attracting Investment in Semiconductors and Electric Vehicles... "Strengthening Supply Chain Cooperation"

Yoo Jung-yeol, President of KOTRA. (Photo by KOTRA)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] KOTRA announced on the 23rd that it has attracted investments worth 1.1 billion USD (approximately 1.547 trillion KRW) from seven companies in the North American region, including Applied Materials, the world's number one semiconductor equipment company.

KOTRA stated that it achieved this result by hosting the North America investment declaration ceremony and investor roundtable organized by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy in New York the previous day (local time). The event was arranged on the occasion of President Yoon Suk-yeol’s visit to the US to attend the UN General Assembly, aiming to strengthen supply chain cooperation between the two countries in national strategic industries such as semiconductors, secondary batteries, and bio, and to expand future cooperation foundations in electric vehicles and carbon neutrality.

At the investment declaration ceremony, under the presence of President Yoon, investment declarations totaling 1.1 billion USD were made by seven companies including Applied Materials, Dupont, Entegris, Borgwarner, Solid Energy Systems, EMP Belstar, and Northland Power.

Most of the declared projects focused on advanced industries such as semiconductors, electric vehicles, and secondary batteries, which the Korean government is concentrating on fostering. The investment declarations centered on expanding production facilities as well as establishing and expanding research and development (R&D) centers. KOTRA evaluated this by saying, "It is expected to contribute to strengthening industrial competitiveness along with expanding supply chains." KOTRA also noted that attracting investments in offshore wind power and logistics sectors is significant in terms of building a carbon-neutral foundation.

KOTRA has been closely supporting these investment declaration projects as priority investment targets, working together with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and local governments. They explained that they assisted investment attraction considering the importance of building core industry supply chains and securing future competitiveness.

The investment roundtable included representatives from 13 companies, including semiconductor leaders such as Lam Research and Axcelis, as well as global companies like Google, Boeing, Johnson & Johnson, and Pfizer, including those who declared investments at the ceremony. At this meeting, companies shared their investment achievements so far and introduced future investment plans. They also exchanged opinions on difficulties encountered during the investment project progress and decision-making processes.

Companies cited Korea’s excellent workforce, manufacturing infrastructure, and high growth potential as major reasons for investment. They also showed a positive stance toward expanding investments in the future. They requested the government for more bold regulatory relaxation, expanded incentives, and support for securing local technical personnel.

KOTRA President Yoo Jung-yeol said, "The importance of attracting investments to respond to the global supply chain restructuring and secure future new growth engines has become greater than ever," adding, "We will actively promote attraction activities focusing on national advanced strategic industry sectors and, considering the intensifying competition among countries for investment attraction, we will also actively work with the government to improve the overall investment attraction environment."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.