Yongin City and Eindhoven Join Hands on Semiconductor Exchange and Cooperation

On the 28th (local time), Mayor Lee Sang-il of Yongin Special City and a city delegation visiting the Netherlands visited Eindhoven and Brainport, advanced technology innovation cities in semiconductors with ASML headquarters located there, and discussed semiconductor exchange and cooperation measures.

The delegation then held talks with the Chief Operating Officer and others at ASML headquarters, a manufacturer of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography equipment essential for producing high-bandwidth memory (HBM) semiconductors, and toured some facilities.

Mayor Lee Sang-il and the city delegation held talks with Mayor Marcel Del Hez and others at Eindhoven City Hall on that day. Eindhoven is home to ASML headquarters, the world's leading manufacturer by revenue in the semiconductor equipment sector, and research and development (R&D;) complexes.

It is also a key region of 'Brainport', called the Silicon Valley of Europe. An Verhach, International Business Strategy Advisor at Brainport's economic development organization, also attended the talks.

At the meeting, Mayor Lee stated, "Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, the two anchor companies, are making investments to expand production capacity in response to the surging demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and other memory semiconductors in the era of artificial intelligence (AI). In order to increase production, ASML's extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography equipment must be supplied in a timely manner. I would hope that active exchange and cooperation between Yongin City and Eindhoven, which both have the will to foster the semiconductor industry, will take place."

Mayor Del Hez gave a detailed introduction to Eindhoven and said, "I think Eindhoven resembles Yongin City in many respects, and I will make efforts for exchange and cooperation between the two cities, including considering a visit to Yongin in the future."

Mayor Lee Sang-il and the city delegation then moved to Brainport and visited the High Tech Innovation Campus, holding approximately one hour of talks with Elco Brinkhoff, Chief Executive Officer of 'Photondelta', which supports optical semiconductor technology development.

'High Tech Campus Eindhoven' is a place where approximately 300 advanced industry-related companies, research institutions, and startups have gathered, with around 13,000 employees working to expand the cutting-edge technology ecosystem.

As his final schedule of the day, Mayor Lee visited ASML headquarters for approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes and toured some facilities.
The mayor and Frederick Schneider-Monouri, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (COO), ASML Korea Representative Director Choi Han-jong and others expressed their commitment to mutual cooperation through talks.

Yongin Special City and ASML Korea signed an agreement in December 2024 to establish an office in a cooperation complex within the general industrial complex of the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster in Won-sam-myeon, Cheoin-gu.

Frederick Schneider-Monouri, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (COO), said in talks with the mayor, "We consider the cooperation relationship with Yongin City, which plays an important role in Korea's semiconductor ecosystem, to be very significant. I am delighted to welcome Mayor Lee Sang-il and the city delegation at ASML headquarters, and I look forward to continuing constructive cooperation with Yongin City in the future."