Seven North American companies in the fields of chips, electric vehicles, energy and logistics pledged a combined $1.15 billion investment in South Korea to strengthen cooperation between the two nations to enhance related industries’ supply chains amid intensifying competition.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced Thursday (local time in New York) that it received investment declaration letters from seven North American firms during a North American Investment Reporting Ceremony and Investor Roundtable in New York, the United States on the same day.

The seven names are Applied Materials, DuPont and Entegris in the semiconductor industry, Solid Energy System (SES) and BorgWarner in the EV and battery sector, Northland Power in the onshore wind farm market and EMP Belstar in the logistics field.

The latest investment pledges by North American firms are mostly for research and development centers and other quality facilities and thus will contribute to the development of advanced technologies in Korea and nurture technology experts at home, the ministry said.

Expectations for positive effects on the semiconductor industry ecosystem and supply chains also are rising as Applied Materials and three other global leaders in materials engineering solutions for chips (ASML, Tokyo Electron and Lam Research) have been active in investment in Korea.

The latest investment pledges are closely related the Korean government’s national projects to enhance supply chains and achieve carbon neutrality, said Lee Chang-yang, the industry minister.

By Song Gwang-sup and Lee Ha-yeon

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