South Korean electronics company Samsung said that it plans to build a $17 billion semiconductor factory outside of Austin, Texas, amid a global shortage of chips used in phones, cars and other electronic devices.
“This is the largest foreign direct investment in the state of Texas, ever,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott said when announcing the project on Tuesday.
Samsung said it will start building the Texas plant next year and hopes to begin operations in the second half of 2024.
The tech company chose the site based on a number of factors, including tax breaks and the “readiness and stability” of local infrastructure, said Samsung Vice Chairman Kim Kinam, speaking alongside the Republican governor.
The White House said that US President Joe Biden's talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in helped clear the way for the announcement.
The deal was “the result of sustained work by the administration, including engagement with Samsung” and Mr Biden’s encounter with Mr Moon, “where the two leaders announced they would facilitate mutual and complementary investments in semiconductors”, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Brian Deese, the National Economic Council director, said in a joint statement on Tuesday night.
Samsung's plant would go a long way to "helping protect our supply chains, revitalising our manufacturing base and creating good jobs right here at home," they said.
They did not elaborate on what roles Mr Biden and Mr Moon played in bringing about Samsung’s decision.
The new plant is expected to create more than 2,000 skilled jobs.
The chips manufactured on the site will have applications in mobile technologies, 5G or even artificial intelligence, the group said. The plant will be built in the town of Taylor, near the capital Austin.
The company had previously explored sites in Florida, Arizona, New York and Austin, Texas, before deciding on Taylor.
Samsung said it expects to spend $17bn on the Texas project, which will make it the company’s largest investment in the US.
The company is the latest to come to the Texas capital: business software company Oracle and electric vehicle maker Tesla both announced they would be moving their headquarters from Silicon Valley to Austin.
Meanwhile, Tesla filed on Monday for approval of the first phase of its Giga Factory Texas with the state’s Department of Licensing and Regulation, which will cost roughly $1.1bn, with the hope that construction on several major elements will be completed by year's end.
Samsung said it plans to invest $150 billion globally over the next decade in developing its line of memory chips, with a potential US manufacturing expansion if tax credits can help make up for the higher costs of American manufacturing.
Agencies contributed to this report
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre 6-cyl turbo
Power: 374hp at 5,500-6,500rpm
Torque: 500Nm from 1,900-5,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.5L/100km
Price: from Dh285,000
On sale: from January 2022
It's up to you to go green
Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.
“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”
When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.
He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.
“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.
One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.
The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.
Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.
But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”
Company%20profile
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Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPowertrain%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESingle%20electric%20motor%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E201hp%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E310Nm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESingle-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBattery%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E53kWh%20lithium-ion%20battery%20pack%20(GS%20base%20model)%3B%2070kWh%20battery%20pack%20(GF)%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETouring%20range%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E350km%20(GS)%3B%20480km%20(GF)%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh129%2C900%20(GS)%3B%20Dh149%2C000%20(GF)%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Mina Cup winners
Under 12 – Minerva Academy
Under 14 – Unam Pumas
Under 16 – Fursan Hispania
Under 18 – Madenat
