LCD plant to be world's largest

LG Philips LCD Co. announced yesterday it would build the world's largest liquid-crystal display plant, covering an area of 1.7 million square meters (408 acres) by 2005 in Paju, Gyeonggi province. Koo Bon-joon, the chief executive of the company, and Sohn Hak-kyu, the governor of Gyeonggi province, are scheduled to sign a memorandum of understanding on the deal today at the Inter-Continental Hotel in Seoul. The company, jointly established by LG Electronics Inc. and Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands in 1999, is the world's top LCD manufacturer, posting a global market share of 19.7 percent for the fourth quarter of last year. An LG Philips official noted that Korean firms held a combined share of more than 40 percent of the world LCD market, with Samsung Electronics Co. ranked second with 18.2 percent. "The growth of the display market has been faster than expected," he said. "Global market sales are estimated to reach $25 billion this year and $43 billion in 2006. "LG Philips is focusing on producing larger digital television monitors as well as laptop and desktop computer monitors." A Gyeonggi government official said the province was expecting a spillover effect from constructing the world's largest LCD factory. "The plant in Paju is seven times as large as the another LCD factory being constructed by [LG Philips] in Gumi, Gyeongbuk province," he said. "The total amount of investment in the Paju plant is estimated to be $10 billion -- four times as high as the investment in the Gumi plant." The government official noted that an additional industrial complex covering more than 1.8 million square meters would be created for 500 parts suppliers, which would boost employment in the area. "The Paju area is close to Incheon International Airport and Incheon Harbor, where a number of logistics companies are clustered," the LG Phillips official said. "There are also a number of universities in the province, which the company will look to for research." by Pyo Jae-yong