Regional governments in South Korea are making their last stretch in the heated race to bring home a state-sponsored semiconductor cluster project valued at 120 trillion won ($106.6 billion).

In Chi-kyun, president of Cheonan City Council and other regional representatives on Monday participated in an ice bucket challenge in front of the council building in desperate hopes to win over SK Hynix Inc., the world’s second largest memory player spearheading the creation of the world’s biggest epicenter in chip-making

At the event, In pledged to focus all capabilities to host the new chip lines that will help bring national balanced development and boost regional economy.

The Cheonan City Council last week passed a declarative resolution to win the ticket to host the high-technology cluster. In the statement, the council said that large companies should establish more manufacturing bases away from the capital for the sake of decentralization.

Lee Jae-myung, governor of Gyeonggi Province, also held a press conference on Monday at the provincial government building and urged the government to pitch his jurisdiction as the best candidate as it is already home to wafer fabs of the two biggest chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

If chosen, the local government will support both large and mid-sized firms to strengthen the supply chain by promoting startups and professional talents and backing the necessary infrastructure.

Korea relies on imports for the equipments in chipmaking facilities and materials for wafer fabrication. His government will introduce a program that helps enhance technology competitiveness of small- and mid-size companies and recruit professional talents.

The SK Hynix-led project is sponsored by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. It involves investing 120 trillion won over 10 years starting with four wafer fabs this year. The project is expected to create more than 10,000 new jobs given about 50 materials suppliers will also move into the cluster. A final decision on the location will be made in the first half of this year.

By Cho Han-pil and Lee Eun-joo

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]