▲ Investment Agreement Ceremony with Two Foreign Companies

The foreign investment secured by the 8th popularly elected 'Powerful Chungnam' administration has surpassed $3.9 billion (5.2841 trillion KRW), bringing it significantly closer to this year's foreign investment target of $4 billion.

On the 18th, the province signed investment agreements totaling $120 million (approximately 170 billion KRW) with Air Products, a global leading company in industrial specialty gases from the U.S., and Baba Advance Materials, an Indian manufacturer of special chemical materials for semiconductors, at the provincial government's main conference room.

The event was attended by over 20 people, including Governor Kim Tae-heum, Kurt Lefevere, President of Air Products Asia, Naresh Patel, CEO of Baba Advance Materials, Kim Seok-pil, Acting Mayor of Cheonan, and Song Mu-gyeong, Vice Mayor of Gongju. The ceremony proceeded in the order of company introductions and investment content presentations, agreement signing, and commemorative gift exchange.

Through this agreement, each organization confirmed their mutual cooperation regarding the implementation of foreign investment and administrative support in the Cheonan and Gongju regions.

Air Products, a global leader in supplying industrial gases, related equipment, and application technologies, currently operates production facilities in Cheonan and Asan. They contribute to the development of domestic industries and job creation by supplying specialty gases for semiconductor and display processes.

This investment plan includes expanding their factory within the Cheonan 3rd Industrial Complex, with a groundbreaking initiative to introduce specialized facilities for producing ultra-high-purity industrial gases—a first for Korea.

Air Products stated that Chungnam's geographical strengths, where advanced semiconductor industry clusters are located, and its business-friendly administrative support positively influenced their investment decision.

Baba Advance Materials was established in 2023 as a subsidiary of 'Acutas Chemicals,' an Indian pharmaceutical intermediate manufacturer, to expand its semiconductor raw material production and distribution business.

Baba Advance Materials plans to establish 'Indichem,' a joint venture with the Korean company 'J&Materials.' Their goal is to stably secure raw materials for semiconductor photoresists and refine and distribute them domestically, gradually aiming to replace the semiconductor photoresist supply market currently dominated by Japanese companies.

To achieve this, they plan to construct a factory in the Namgongju General Industrial Complex and begin operations next year.

This agreement is significant as it is the first investment agreement with an Indian-based company among the foreign investments secured by the province since 2010.

The province expects this agreement to diversify the semiconductor raw material distribution network, which currently relies on China, and foster the growth of new semiconductor material companies establishing themselves in Gongju.

At the signing, Governor Kim stated, "The 8th popularly elected provincial government has attracted 34.3 trillion KRW in investment, with foreign investment alone exceeding $3.9 billion. This agreement will further elevate our Chungnam's industrial competitiveness."

Governor Kim added, "I am confident that the province and these two companies will continue to develop together in a win-win relationship, creating synergistic effects for each other. We will support and encourage them to find new opportunities in Chungnam and achieve even greater growth and success."

Department in Charge: Investment and Trade Policy Officer, Foreign Investment Attraction Team

Phone Number: 041-635-3357