Video source: YouTube, Reuters

Samsung Electronics Co vice chairman Jay Y. Lee has embarked on a high-profile business trip to the US to finalize the company’s plans to build a $17 billion semiconductor plant and to discuss COVID-19 vaccines with Moderna Inc (MRNA). 

Reuters reported that Samsung’s decision on where it will locate its new plant will coincide with Lee’s trip, which kicked off Sunday. 

The South Korean maker of cell phones, televisions, computers and other technology products has been considering four sites in the US as possible locations — one near Austin, two in Phoenix and one in upstate New York — for a chip-making plant.

Sources familiar with the company’s plans have said the Texas property is the frontrunner due to the subsidies offered, as well as the likelihood of “stable sources of electricity and water.” 

The project, expected to be the most advanced facility to date for Samsung, would create 1,800 jobs. Samsung aims to start construction on the new 6-million-square-foot plant in January and have it up and running by the end of 2024.

The company already has an existing chip facility in Austin, Texas — its only manufacturing site in the US.

Lee, who was released from prison on parole in August following convictions for embezzlement and bribery, is also expected to visit Boston, Massachusetts, to meet with executives from Moderna, Reuters reported. 

Samsung’s pharmaceutical affiliate, Samsung Biologics Co, is in a partnership with Moderna to produce vaccines as a contract manufacturer. 

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Source: Equities News