S'pore to build wafer fabs

S'pore to build wafer fabs

SINGAPORE (AFP): Singapore plans to build more wafer
fabrication plants which could attract about S$10 billion
(US$7.14 billion) in investment in the electronics sector over
the next four years, reports said Saturday.

There are six such plants in the city state at present.

It costs about S$1.5 billion to set up a plant for wafer
fabrication, the highest value-added activity in the production
of computer chips, the global shortage of which has worsened with
the booming demand for electronics products.

The government said on Saturday it would acquire 18.4 hectares
(45.5 acres) in the Woodlands area north of the city to nearly
double the area of a wafer production park there. There are also
plans to set up two more such parks.

The Woodlands park presently has four wafer fabrication
plants, and could eventually house as many as 10 such factories,
officials said.