'Bukmi Chuljang' Kim Dong-yeon, First Friendly Cooperation with Arizona State... Joint Technology Development and Additional Investment

Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-yeon is taking a commemorative photo with Governor Katie Hobbs at the Arizona Commerce Authority conference room on the 14th (local time).

Kim Dong-yeon, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, who is visiting the United States and Canada to strengthen international exchange cooperation and attract overseas investment, visited Arizona, a state famous for its semiconductor industry, to open the door for exchange and cooperation between the two regions. He also visited the U.S. semiconductor company ON Semiconductor to encourage additional investment.

On the 14th (local time), Governor Kim met with Governor Katie Hobbs at the Arizona Commerce Authority located in Phoenix, Arizona, and signed a friendship and cooperation agreement. With this, Arizona became the fourth U.S. state to establish a friendly cooperative relationship with Gyeonggi Province, following Texas, Michigan, and California.

Governor Kim said, "Gyeonggi Province and Arizona are partners that naturally fit together from the start, and today's agreement will further strengthen our innovation alliance in various fields such as advanced industries and climate change." He emphasized, "Let's build the Gyeonggi-Arizona line in advanced industries, semiconductors, and battery sectors. The Gyeonggi-Arizona line will be the starting point for our shared prosperity and long-term partnership."

Governor Katie Hobbs responded, "The two regions have many similarities, and I believe we can achieve results that benefit our residents by leveraging each other's strengths." She added, "Through technological cooperation, research and development (R&D) collaboration, and sharing innovation in various fields such as batteries, semiconductors, and automobiles, we can contribute to each region's economy, nurture talent, and create more jobs."

Governor Kim also explained the difficulties Korean professionals face in obtaining professional visas related to Korean companies' investments in Arizona and requested Governor Hobbs to work toward passing the Korean Partner Act currently pending in the U.S. Congress to increase the quota for Korean professional visas.

According to the agreement signed that day, Gyeonggi Province will expand cooperation in areas such as corporate exchange, startups, IT, advanced industries (electric vehicles, batteries, semiconductors, etc.), youth, culture and sports, and climate crisis.

As the first example of exchange cooperation, the next-generation convergence technology institute and Hanyang University delivered a Letter of Intent (LOI) for international joint technology development in the semiconductor field to Arizona State University.

Arizona State University responded by proposing to proceed with detailed practical discussions for joint semiconductor research and development and workforce training as outlined in the LOI, indicating that related research is expected to progress in the future.

Located in the southwestern desert region of the United States, Arizona is emerging as the "silicon desert," reminiscent of California's Silicon Valley.

Phoenix, Tucson, and Glendale in Arizona are innovation clusters densely populated with technology companies, where active research in advanced industries such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI), and information technology (IT) is taking place.

Gyeonggi Province plans to establish a new exchange relationship with Arizona, which shares common ground as a hub for advanced industries such as semiconductors and batteries. In particular, given Arizona's membership in the U.S. Climate Alliance, which consists of governors actively responding to climate change, it is expected that the two local governments can collaborate internationally in addressing the climate crisis.

On the same day, Governor Kim met with ON Semiconductor Chairman Hassane El-Khoury, Chief Operating Officer (COO) Wang Weicheng, President Kang Byung-gon, and others at ON Semiconductor's headquarters in Scottsdale, urging mutual cooperation with Gyeonggi Province's small and medium-sized enterprises and additional investment.

According to a New York Times report on March 20, ON Semiconductor is reportedly considering an additional investment of $2 billion.

Hassane El-Khoury, Chairman of ON Semiconductor, who arrived about 50 minutes late for the meeting due to attending a government meeting in Washington D.C., said, "I urgently flew here because I wanted to meet even briefly. Thank you for your strong support of ON Semiconductor Korea's investment." He introduced, "The non-memory semiconductors made in Bucheon will be installed in electric vehicles worldwide."

Governor Kim said, "ON Semiconductor Korea is like the starting point of Korea's semiconductor history and a very important partner for Gyeonggi Province." He promised, "I ask for your active investment decisions, and we will strive to provide necessary administrative and financial support together with Bucheon City."

ON Semiconductor, headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, leads mega-trend changes such as the automotive industry, electric vehicles, energy grids, industrial automation, 5G, and cloud infrastructure, recording sales of $8.3 billion last year.

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