Taiwan semiconductor firm Kyec pumps S$100 million into new Singapore plant, creating over 300 jobs

[SINGAPORE] A new semiconductor testing facility in Singapore will create over 300 jobs in engineering and managerial roles.

Located in Ang Mo Kio, this is Taiwan-based semiconductor service provider King Yuan Electronics Corp’s (Kyec) first such facility overseas, and comes as part of its “global expansion strategy”.

Kyec said that it invested a total of S$100 million in the project.

Established through the group’s Singapore subsidiary, the facility has some 109,000 square feet of clean-room space, which will enable testing capabilities including chip probing, final testing, burn-in and system-level testing.

The facility will serve the “growing demand for automotive, high-performance (artificial intelligence) products”, as well as computer, communications and consumer electronics semiconductor testing in South-east Asia.

It will also “mitigate risks associated with geographically concentrated semiconductor supply chains”, Kyec said, and enable the group to “collaborate more closely with customers in building a diversified, cross-regional ecosystem”.

Gauss Chang, chairman of Kyec Singapore, said that the facility is “well-positioned for further expansion as customer demand continues to grow”, which will help turn the business from “part of the supply chain to part of the process”.

Kyec is one of the world’s largest pure-play integrated circuit testing companies. It also has a presence in Japan, China and the US, though its operations in those markets focus on regional corporate, sales and customer support, rather than chip manufacturing and testing.

Singapore Economic Development Board managing director Jermaine Loy said that the new facility will “bring Kyec’s unique test expertise to Singapore and help build up Singapore’s AI chip-testing abilities”.

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The Republic’s semiconductor industry contributes almost 6 per cent to the gross domestic product, he noted, adding that there are more than 35,000 industry firms headquartered here, conducting manufacturing and R&D activities.