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LG Philips LCD completed construction of a seventh-generation liquid crystal display panel factory in Paju, some 30 km north of Seoul on Thursday. Construction started in 2004 and the company invested a whopping W5.297 trillion (US$5 billion) in building the plant. The company is competing with Samsung Electronics for the world lead in the field. To consolidate its status, it will have to embark on building an eighth-generation production line soon.
The completed plant is the core facility at the company¡¯s LCD complex in Paju, which is scheduled for completion by 2012 on a 4.6 million sq.m plot. At Thursday¡¯s completion ceremony, the plant plus a waste-water treatment facility, a dormitory and an office building were unveiled.
The factory building measures 213 m by 205 m. The ground floor alone is as large as six football pitches. All floors combined have an area of 307,000 sq.m, making it the largest LCD factory in the world.
LG Philips LCD will focus on producing 42-inch and 47 inch LCD panels at the plant. The factory went into partial operation in January. The company aims to increase its 42-inch panel production to 720,000 a month by the end of this year.
The Paju plant will bolster the Korean LCD industry¡¯s efforts to advance in the global market and consolidate their lead over Taiwan and Japan. Along with Samsung Electronics¡¯ seventh-generation plant in Tangjeong, South Chungcheong Province, which began operations last January, LG Philips LCD¡¯s new plant is expected to further boost the industry.
LG Philips LCD vice Chairman Koo Bon-joon said the firm has ¡°a sense of mission¡± that the new plant will play an important role in improving the nation¡¯s competitiveness. ¡°We and will grow Paju into a center of the global display industry by continuous investment and R&D activities,¡± he said.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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