Amid intensifying competition in the global semiconductor market, the government and companies have united to proactively respond to changes in external conditions.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy held a meeting with semiconductor business leaders on the 26th, presided over by Minister Ahn Deok-geun.

This meeting was organized to assess the impact of the recent intensification of global semiconductor market competition on our semiconductor industry and to discuss countermeasures.

The meeting was attended by leaders from semiconductor manufacturing and materials, parts, and equipment companies leading the domestic semiconductor industry, including Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, Wonik IPS, Exicon, Dongjin Semikem, Solbrain, and LOT Vacuum.

The participating business leaders stated that they would work together with the government to ensure that planned investments proceed without setbacks and achieve 60 trillion won in semiconductor investment and 120 billion dollars in exports this year.

In addition, they proposed continuous improvements to the investment environment, such as the establishment of new investment subsidies, expanded support for semiconductor mega-cluster infrastructure, and the construction of testbeds for materials, parts, and equipment.

Since the inauguration of the government, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy has significantly increased investment tax credits, established the first national semiconductor industrial complex, and 150,000 semiconductor workersWe have introduced unconventional semiconductor support policies, such as workforce training, and plan to continue strengthening bold support measures to ensure that domestic companies do not compete on an uneven playing field.

It was announced that a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) would be signed on the 27th between KEPCO, LH, power generation companies, demand companies, and the government to expedite the implementation of the Yongin Industrial Complex power supply plan, which was finalized at the end of last year, under the direction that the government would take responsibility for building essential infrastructure such as electricity and water.

In addition, it was mentioned that measures to expand additional investment incentives for advanced industries such as semiconductors would be prepared and reflected in the 'Comprehensive Support Plan for Advanced Strategic Industry Specialized Complexes' to be announced in March.

In addition, we plan to provide a total of 24 trillion won in policy funds to foster world-class materials, parts, and equipment, fabless companies, and talent, and to establish a public-private joint demonstration fab promotion organization to expedite the mass production testbed (mini-fab) for materials, parts, and equipment that was selected as a project for preliminary feasibility study last week.

In addition, to support the development of cutting-edge packaging technology, we plan to launch a technology development project worth 19.8 billion won in April of this year to respond to urgent market demand, and to pursue additional large-scale preliminary feasibility study projects this year.

It was also announced that, in order to enhance the competitiveness of fabless companies, a 'Semiconductor Design Verification Center' would be established this year, an 'Artificial Intelligence (AI) Semiconductor Collaboration Forum' would be created within the Semiconductor Industry Association, and a 'Fabless Development Plan' would be prepared in the first half of the year to create a Korean version of Nvidia.

Minister Ahn Deok-keun emphasized, “It is important to establish industrial policies that companies can feel tangibly on the ground,” adding that “the government and companies must become one team to strengthen communication and cooperation.”

In addition, “in order to shorten the project duration of semiconductor industrial complexes currently under construction, related permits and approvals“We will expedite the implementation and significantly expand incentives to promote corporate investment,” he said, adding, “We will also push for the establishment of a task force (TF) within the Ministry of Industry to promote semiconductor specialized complexes.”