President Lee Jae Myung (fourth from left in front row) on July 2 takes a group photo with participants at a signing ceremony in Asan, Chungcheongnam-do Province, for a memorandum of understanding on investment in cutting-edge sectors in the Chungcheong region spanning Daejeon, Sejong, and the provinces of Chungcheongbuk-do and Chungcheongnam-do.

By Lee Dasom

Three domestic business giants will invest a combined KRW 392 trillion to develop cutting-edge industries in the Chungcheong region, which spans Daejeon, Sejong, and the provinces of Chungcheongbuk-do and Chungcheongnam-do.

A government strategy also seek to fully support such investment plans of these companies.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources on July 2 released a blueprint at a public briefing for the Lee administration's vision for cutting-edge industrial development in the region in Asan, Chungcheongnam-do.

Samsung Group, SK Hynix and Celltrion attended the briefing and announced their planned investments.

First, Samsung will invest about KRW 140 trillion in OLED and next-generation display lines, high bandwidth memory (HBM) fabs and packaging, high-performance package boards for artificial intelligence (AI) servers, and construction of standard production lines for new cutting-edge battery manufacturing processes.

SK Hynix will spend some KRW 100 trillion on NAND and advanced packaging fabs, while Celltrion will allocate about KRW 2 trillion for biopharmaceutical production facilities.

Combined with investments by other companies building AI data centers and other facilities, investment in the region will reach a combined KRW 392 trillion.

Strong and customized support pledged by the government includes the designation of "mega special zones" with investment incentives and eased regulations to stimulate corporate investment in provincial areas.

The ultimate objective is to build an ecosystem of dense regional industries focused on companies investing in cutting-edge sectors such as displays, semiconductors, secondary batteries and components, and biotechnology while promoting innovation through cooperation among industry, academia and research institutes.

An investment support plan will be devised to swiftly resolve the challenges companies face, ranging from securing sites and permits to issues related to power, water, labor and finance.

Minister of Trade, Industry and Resources Kim Jung-Kwan said, "The central government will join forces with local governments to do its best to ensure that the investment plan announced today leads to an 'irreplaceable Republic of Korea.'"

dlektha0319@korea.kr