Sánchez meets with Samsung's senior management to present Spain's plans to become a major global player in the semiconductor sector

Pyeongtaek (Republic of Korea)

Pedro Sánchez was accompanied by the CEO of Samsung Electronics' Device Solutions Division, Kye-hyun Kyung, and the President and CEO of the Microchip Business Division, Si-young Choi. After the visit, the President of the Government of Spain and part of the Spanish delegation, which included the Minister for Industry and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, held a meeting with Samsung executives. Samsung is one of the world's leading multinational semiconductor companies. The talks will continue tomorrow, Friday, with a meeting between the President of the Government of Spain and the company's CEO, Lee Jae-Yong.

During the meeting, Sánchez highlighted the Government's "ambitious strategy" to turn Spain into a key player in the semiconductor value chain through a wide range of incentives and aid, attractive financing mechanisms, a fast-growing ecosystem, and the ability to attract talent and highly qualified personnel. In this regard, the President of the Government of Spain stressed that Spain will allocate 12 billion euros, including 9 billion euros of public funds for manufacturing facilities. Some large companies have already announced plans to invest in Spain, with new chip design centres.

The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, signs in the guest book of the Samsung's microprocessor manufacturing facilities in Pyeongtaek | Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la Bellacasa

Spain has a growing ecosystem of companies and start-ups in fields such as integrated photonics, cybersecurity and quantum component design, as well as an major network of microelectronics research centres, leading institutes in the field of photonics such as the Institute of Photonic Sciences and the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre, which is developing future European chips on RISC-V architecture.

In addition, around 37,000 engineers graduate each year in Spain, to which more than 8,000 additional students specifically in the ICT sector must be added. These figures, as the President of the Government of Spain stressed, make Spain a magnet for talent.

Non official translation