“Osceola County osin geos-eul hwan-yeonghabnida”
That’s, “Welcome to Osceola County” in Korean.
That’s what BRIDG — the co-operative tasked with creating commercial opportunities for the advanced technology being manufactured at NeoCity — hopes to say to that country’s semiconductor manufacturers.
BRIDG recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Korea Institute of Advancement of Technology (KIAT). The hope is that it will help swing the door more open to Korean companies bringing their semiconductor technology capabilities to NeoCity.
BRIDG President James Vandevere and KIAT President Byung Joo Min were part of the signing in Washington, D.C. on April 27, which was a part of the official state visit of the Republic of Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol. Korean Minister of Technology, Industry and Energy Lee Chang Yang, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo were also a part, and Osceola County Commissioner Peggy Choudhry represented Osceola County.
When asked this week about the agreement, Choudhry said KIAT is providing funding to Korean businesses, and the MOU is a way to try to open the door wider for them to bring that business to Osceola County, where NeoCity has the capability to make it happen.
“This is building on the relationships that NeoCity Links (a NeoCity based firm working to bring in international investment) has built, between two countries on the same level of semiconductor technology,” she said.
“We’ve invested a lot of dollars in NeoCity, and now we can show another country that we can fill their semiconductor manufacturing capacity, with a facility that’s padready, as soon as Korea makes those funds available. We’re placed strategically at the right time.”
Choudhry said her impression from the meeting in Washington was that the Korean funding commitment was “a lot,” and that KIAT is, “hugely committed.”
County officials say that, through this MOU, KIAT plans to accelerate technological innovations and support efforts for a comprehensive strategic technology-based alliance between the countries.
“I think it is significant that an opportunity has been created for Korean companies to enter the state of Florida, which has made full-scale investment to expand the semiconductor ecosystem,” BRIDG President James Vandevere said.
