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Two of the world’s largest chipmakers, TSMC and Samsung Electronics, have discussed building potential chip projects in the United Arab Emirates in coming years which could be worth more than $100 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.
Top executives at TSMC have visited the UAE recently and talked about a plant complex on par with some of the company’s largest and most advanced facilities in Taiwan, the WSJ said, citing people familiar with the interactions.
South Korea-based Samsung Electronics, a maker of smartphones, TVs and memory chips, is also considering major new chip-making operations in the country in the years ahead, the paper said.
TSMC told Reuters it had no new investment plans to announce.
“We are always open to constructive discussion on ways to promote development of the semiconductor industry, but we remain focused on our current global expansion projects and have no new investment plans to disclose at this time,” it said in a statement on Monday, without elaborating.
Samsung declined to comment on the WSJ report.
Senior figures at Samsung Electronics visited UAE recently and discussed the idea, WSJ reported, adding that the discussions were still in the early phases and may face technical and other hurdles.
Under initial terms being discussed, the projects would be funded by the UAE, with a central role for Abu Dhabi-based sovereign development vehicle Mubadala, according to WSJ.
The paper added that the broader goal would be to increasese global chip production and help bring prices down without hurting chip-makers’ profitability.
As tech deals in the region speed up, Washington has become increasingly concerned about the UAE and other Middle Eastern countries becoming a conduit for advanced U.S. AI technology reaching China.
