This article is by Lee Jae-lim and read by an artificial voice.

GYEONGJU, North Gyeongsang - Seven global companies - Amazon Web Services (AWS), Renault, Amkor Technology, Corning, Air Liquide, Siemens Healthineers and Umicore - will inject a combined $9 billion into Korea's key supply chains over the next five years, targeting industries such as artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductors.
Of the total, $6.6 billion will be realized as foreign direct investment, according to Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources on Wednesday. The investment will focus on industries prioritized by the government, including AI, semiconductors, secondary batteries, future mobility and biotechnology.
Amazon accounts for more than half the total, committing $5 billion by 2031 to expand Korea's cloud infrastructure, in addition to the U.S. tech giant's previously announced $4 billion AI data center project with SK Group in Ulsan.
The announcement came during the Global Corporate Investment Partnership ceremony held on Wednesday at the Gyeongju Arts Center, one of the venues of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit - which runs through Friday - in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang.
"The Korean government is actively pursuing the construction of an 'AI highway' to facilitate the widespread utilization of AI across industries and research communities, with the goal of becoming one of the world's top three AI powers," President Lee Jae Myung said, following the deal announcement. "Amazon's additional large-scale investment in AI data centers will further accelerate the development of Korea's AI ecosystem."
AWS CEO Matt Garman said at the commemorative ceremony that Korea is emerging as a hub of AI innovation, and Renault Korea CEO Nicolas Paris noted that the Renault Group has designated Korea as one of its five global hubs, and that it sees the country as central to its future mobility strategy. The French automaker plans to use its new investment to use existing production lines in Busan for electric vehicle manufacturing.
The remaining funds will be directed toward bolstering Korea's supply chains across multiple industries. Siemens Healthineers will lease a 9,900-square-meter (106,562.7-square-foot) site at Pohang Technopark to build a new cardiac ultrasound device plant, creating more than 400 jobs. Amkor Technology will expand its semiconductor back-end processing operations, Corning will invest in advanced materials for mobile devices, Umicore will increase cathode material output for secondary batteries. And Air Liquide will scale up semiconductor specialty gas and process material production.
Further partnerships between Korean conglomerates and Nvidia are expected to be unveiled during the APEC CEO Summit as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang visits Korea from Thursday to Friday. Bloomberg reported that Nvidia plans to supply AI chips to at least two major Korean firms - Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor - during the summit week.

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