Texas governor vows full support for Samsung’s expansion in US

Korea becomes fourth-largest trading partner for US state

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (left) and Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Jun Young-hyun shake hands at the tech giant's semiconductor manufacturing facility in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday. (Office of the Texas Governor)

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday reiterated his full support for Samsung Electronics to secure a bigger footing in the US, upon his visit to the chip giant’s semiconductor manufacturing plant in Korea.

Abbott visited Samsung’s semiconductor campus -- the world's largest semiconductor production facility -- in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, as part of his Asian trip that includes South Korea, Taiwan and Japan. He arrived in Korea on Monday.

The governor inspected the P1 line, guided by Samsung’s top executives, including Vice Chairman Jun Young-hyun who oversees the chip business.

“I have visited businesses in their headquarters across the entire globe and have found none better,” Abbott said of his visit to the Samsung plant during a press conference in Seoul later Tuesday.

Citing Samsung’s new foundry plant under construction in Taylor, Texas, which is to make wafers dedicated to advanced chips for artificial intelligence, Abbott said he will make his state the world’s No. 1 leader in AI.

“With what Samsung is going to be doing in Texas, we will continue to expand Texas' lead in the field of artificial intelligence through the production of the wafers in Texas,” Abbott said.

In April, Abbott met with Samsung’s former President and CEO Kyung Kye-hyun and other executives at the governor’s mansion in Austin to celebrate Samsung’s continuing expansion in Texas, with a total expected investment of more than $40 billion, which is the largest foreign direct investment in Texas history. Adding the company’s initial investment plan of $17 billion, the chip giant will be spending some $61 billion on building facilities in Texas.

Over Samsung's active investment in Texas, the governor said the US CHIPS and Science Act and the state's own chip support program would have had an influence in the tech giant's decisions.

Under the federal chip support program, Samsung is receiving a subsidy of $6.4 billion for its chip production facilities in the country.

Earlier Monday, the governor also met with SK Group’s top executives, including SK On Vice Chairman Yu Jeong-joon, who leads SK Americas, and SK Signet CEO Shin Jung-ho. SK Signet opened its electric vehicle charger manufacturing facility in Plano, Texas, in June last year.

Over the upcoming US presidential election taking place in November, the Republican governor said he will be working to make his state No. 1 for doing business regardless of who wins.

At the press conference, Abbott also announced SeAH Group’s $110 million capital investment to build a new steel manufacturing plant in Temple, Texas. The US state plans to provide an incentive of $910,000 for the envisioned facility, among other support programs.

Korea is the fourth-largest trading partner for Texas, with trade volume of more than $32 billion in total. The country is No. 1 in foreign direct investment in Texas, having invested $20.59 billion there over the past decade.

As of April this year, some 270 Korean companies are operating in Texas, second only to California with 600 Korean companies.

By Jo He-rim(herim@heraldcorp.com)