Major South Korean manufacturers of semiconductors and displays plan to invest a combined 51.9 trillion won ($45.8 billion) in the domestic market by 2024 to help stimulate the local economy and create jobs, the government said Monday.

Senior executives from major manufacturers announced their investment plans during a meeting with Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Paik Woon-gyu, in which they outlined strategies to further develop the high tech industry, the ministry said.

Kwon Oh-hyun, vice chairman and CEO of Samsung Electronics Co.; Park Sung-wook, vice chairman of SK hynix Inc.; and Han Sang-beom, CEO at LG Display, were among the 10 executives present at the meeting.
 
Samsung Electronics, the world's largest chipmaker, said it will invest 21.4 trillion won by 2021 to build new organic light-emitting diode factories in Gyeonggi Province and South Chungcheong Province.

SK hynix, South Korea's No. 2 chipmaker, said it will build NAND flash memory plants in North Chungcheong Province by 2024.

LG Display, the world's largest LCD panel maker, unveiled a plan to spend 15 trillion won over the next three years to establish OLED factories in Gyeonggi Province and North Gyeongsang Province.

During the meeting, Paik vowed to expand support for the semiconductor and display sector, one of South Korea's main export drivers and the core sectors of the next generation technology revolution.

"China has made big investments in the sector to close the technology gap (with industry leaders), which could potentially lead to a global supply glut," Paik said. "Korean companies will have to pay extra attention to counter attempts of technology leakage and brain drain by competing nations."

South Korean chipmakers have benefited from increased overseas demand and higher prices this year, with outbound shipments of computer chips surging 52 percent on-year to $50.5 billion in the first eight months of this year, according to the Korea International Trade Association. (Yonhap)