The Netherlands has recently emerged as a key player in the semiconductor supply chain, hosting global semiconductor companies. The semiconductor alliance between the leaders of Korea and the Netherlands is taking full steps forward, with the visit of the Dutch president to the Netherlands, including global semiconductor companies and equipment manufacturers such as ASML, ASM, and NXP.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that the Ministry of Economy and Climate Policy of the Netherlands and the semiconductor industry departments of both countries met in Eindhoven, the Netherlands on the 19th (local time) to discuss ways to strengthen semiconductor cooperation between Korea and the Netherlands to fulfill the promise made between the two leaders.

The first meeting of the 'Korea-Netherlands Semiconductor Dialogue' was held with Lee Yong-pil, Director General for Advanced Industry Policy at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and Serpil Tascioglu, Director General for Core Sectors and Industrial Policy at the Netherlands Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, as the chief representatives.

This meeting was attended by a newly established director-level consultative body for semiconductor policy cooperation between the industrial authorities of both countries. During the conversation, the two sides shared their respective semiconductor industry policies and current issues, including the "mega cluster creation plan" announced in January.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy emphasized that cooperation with major countries is necessary in implementing policy tasks due to the nature of the semiconductor industry, which is an international division of labor system.

In addition, the two sides discussed ways to cooperate in technology in areas such as design, equipment, and packaging, and discussed diversifying programs through cross-hosting of the 'Korea-Nepal Advanced Semiconductor Academy' and expanding participating universities and institutions to jointly address the issue of human resource development, a common issue in the global semiconductor industry.

To this end, we discussed ways to support new business opportunities by holding business roundtables such as the 'Korea-China Advanced Semiconductor Academy Employee Training'.

The two sides agreed to hold this meeting annually to continuously monitor the status of semiconductor cooperation between the two countries and to strengthen organic links in semiconductor cooperation between the government, industry, academia, and research institutes.He said.

Lee Yong-pil, Director General for Advanced Industry Policy, said, “We expect that cooperation in the semiconductor sector between our two countries, which play a key role in the semiconductor supply chain, will not only strengthen the competitiveness of their respective semiconductor industries but also contribute significantly to the stabilization of the global semiconductor supply chain.” He added, “We will continue to strive to maintain substantive cooperation through the ‘Korea-China Semiconductor Dialogue.’”