GlobalFoundries (GF), the worldwide leader in feature-rich semiconductor manufacturing owned by Mubadala, said on Tuesday that it has been extending its global production footprint by building a new fab on its Singapore site. GF's more than $4 billion (approximately Dhs15 billion) investment, made in collaboration with the Singapore Economic Development Board and with co-investments from dedicated customers would play an important role in fulfilling the growing demand for the company's industry-leading manufacturing services and technologies, facilitating companies worldwide to develop and scale their businesses.

In a virtual groundbreaking event, Singapore Minister for Transport and Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations S. Iswaran, and Mubadala Investment Company Managing Director and Group CEO Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, were accompanied by: UAE Ambassador to Singapore Jamal Abdulla Al Suwaidi; Singapore Ambassador to the UAE Kamal R Vaswani; Singapore Economic Development Board Managing Director Chng Kai Fong; GF Board Chairman Ahmed Yahia Al Idrissi; with their GF executives including CEO Tom Caulfield; CFO David Reeder; SVP and Head of Global Operations KC Ang; SVP of Global Sales Juan Cordovez; VP of Human Resource for APAC and International Fabs Janice Lee; and VP of Technology Development in Singapore Dr. Soh Yun Siah.

Global demand for semiconductor chips is increasing at an extraordinary speed, with global semiconductor revenue expected to climb 2.1 times within the next eight years. To satisfy this requirement, GF has scheduled capacity increases at most of its production facilities in the United States, Germany, and Singapore, beginning with the building of phase one of its 300mm fab expansion. Once completed, GF's Singapore campus would have a capacity of 450,000 wafers per year, bringing the total capacity of GF's Singapore campus to roughly 1.5 million (300mm) wafers every year.

The new fab would be Singapore's most sophisticated semi-manufacturing facility, boosting GF's capacity to deliver feature-rich RF, analog power, and non-volatile memory solutions. GF is expanding its cleanroom area by 250,000 square feet (23,000 square metres) and building new administrative offices. The new fab will produce 1,000 new high-paying positions, including technicians, engineers, and many more. The Fab, which's already under construction, is supposed to start in 2023.

“GF is responding to the global semiconductor shortage by increasing our investments across the world. Working closely with our clients and the Singapore government is a formula for success that we have been pioneering here and want to replicate in the US and Europe. With long-term customer contracts already in effect, our new plant in Singapore will service fast-growing end-markets within that automotive, 5G mobility, and security device sections. We are dedicated to working with industry leaders like GlobalFoundries to meet worldwide demand for semiconductors, particularly in high-growth sectors like artificial intelligence and 5G. The semiconductor industry is a critical pillar of Singapore's manufacturing economy, and GlobalFoundries' new fab investment demonstrates Singapore's appeal as a worldwide hub for sophisticated manufacturing and innovation,” said GF CEO Tom Caulfield.