The prime minister said on Tuesday that one of the objectives of his visit to South Korea is to attract investment from South Korean multinationals to European semiconductor manufacturing and defended that strategic economic autonomy does not equate to protectionism.
This point of view was made known by António Costa at the end of a visit to one of the factories of the South Korean multinational SK Hynix, a company that occupies the third position in the world ranking of semiconductor manufacturers.
The factory visited by António Costa, about 60 kilometers from Seoul, represented an investment of about 100 billion euros, according to data from the South Korean company SK Hynix, and has extensive areas of fully automated production.
With the Ministers of Economy, António Costa Silva, of Science and Higher Education, Elvira Fortunato, and of Infrastructure, João Galamba, at his side, the leader of the Portuguese government again advocated the need for Portugal to accompany the global movement of reorganizing supply chains value in light of the current situation of instability in the international economy.
“There is a need to diversify the production chains of some essential goods and semiconductors are now essential for everythinghe said, before pointing as an example to the fact that the shutdown of production in China from the beginning of 2020 – due to the covid-19 pandemic – has blocked a range of industries on a global scale.
For this reason, according to the Prime Minister, Portugal has tried to “maintain a dialogue with the SK group to bring European semiconductor production to the country”.
“In this concept of strategic autonomy that is developing in Europe, Portugal has taken a very clear position on the meaning of this concept. Strategic autonomy does not mean being dependent on others, but it does not mean closing ourselves in on ourselves. We want to attract foreign direct investment, namely South Korean, to produce in Europe what Europe needs”he stressed.
Regarding the SK group, António Costa said there are ongoing contacts, stating that in the field of semiconductors, Portugal has “highly qualified personnel” for design and already has “the largest European factory” to make the final packaging the chips’.
“This company has a strong relationship with Korea and SK is now exploring investment opportunities outside of traditional locations. This group has a presence in China in addition to production in Korea and is looking to diversify its production locations. For us, it is an opportunity that we should try to seize “defended.
The first of two days of António Costa’s official visit to South Korea began today at Hanwha, a renewable energy company already present in Portugal that plans to expand its production in the country.
Among “the companies we will be in contact with, there are some that have never had contact with Portugal, but others already have an important position, such as CS Wind”, which entered the capital of a Portuguese metalworking company that produces wind turbines, he stressed .
From the perspective of António Costa, Portugal was “one of the countries of the European Union that registered the highest economic growth last year and that has a unique opportunity in the coming years, especially with the support of EU funds, to make a profound transformation of its economy”.
“We are at a very important moment that we cannot waste and that we need to focus on. This visit to South Korea is very focused on attracting foreign direct investment, products that can help transform our economy. a semiconductor factory opened the door to many other industries”he added.
Source: DN
