UMC Marks 25^th Anniversary with Launch of Major Community Support Programs

HSINCHU, Taiwan, May 19, 2005 -- UMC, a world-leading semiconductor foundry, has announced a collaboration with the governments from Hsinchu City, Hsinchu County, Tainan City, Tainan County, the Taiwan Fund for Children and Families, and the Boyo Social Welfare Foundation to establish 3 academic counseling centers on June 1st. The plan will help Tainan and Hsinchu governments pursue their community support programs by providing academic counseling for more than 1,000 children in rural areas. During the first stage of UMC's own "Spreading Hope" program, UMC will provide academic and emotional counseling services for underprivileged children to help lessen the economic burden these families may encounter.

In addition, UMC has its own community assistance programs such as its "Growth Project" and "Future Project". The main purpose for "Growth Project" is to provide part-time jobs and tuition assistance for children from the collaborative program when they reach the high school and college stages, while "Future Project" provides tuition assistance for higher learning. The programs are intended to foster Taiwan's future competitiveness and set a positive example for other companies to follow.

At UMC's 25^th anniversary party to be held May 21, UMC will begin with a fundraising marathon intended to encourage its employees to donate towards UMC's community assistance cause, with the company contributing matching donations in order to address the stated goal of Professor Lee Chia-tung, Chairman of the Boyo Social Welfare Foundation, to reduce child poverty. During the event, UMC will also hold a rally to enlist its employees for voluntary schoolwork counseling. During a span of two weeks, UMC collected millions of dollars towards the Boyo Social Welfare Foundation for their schoolwork counseling services in rural areas.

Coinciding with the 25^th celebration activities will be the opening ceremony of UMC's Fab 12A dormitory, a sign of UMC's further commitment and investment in southern Taiwan. The company invested hundreds of millions of dollars on this upscale facility, complete with a fitness center, in order to attract more talented professionals to work in the Southern Taiwan Science Park.

For the past 25 years, UMC has grown from a local consumer electronics company to a world-class foundry leader. With its commitment of being globally positioned while rooted Taiwan, UMC has continued expanding its business investment in Taiwan and contributing to Taiwan's society. In recent years, UMC donated hundreds of millions of dollars towards the September 21 earthquake and other natural disasters, and has also assisted in several local charity organizations' activities. This year, the Board of Directors approved 50 million NT dollars for an educational program for poor children, and named May 21 as "UMC Charity Day".

About UMC
UMC (NYSE: UMC, TSE: 2303) is a leading global semiconductor foundry that manufactures advanced process ICs for applications spanning every major sector of the semiconductor industry. UMC delivers cutting-edge foundry technologies that enable sophisticated system-on-chip (SoC) designs, including 90nm copper, 0.13um copper, and mixed signal/RFCMOS. UMC is also a leader in 300mm manufacturing; Fab 12A in Taiwan and Singapore-based Fab 12i are both in volume production for a variety of customer products. UMC employs approximately 10,500 people worldwide and has offices in Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Europe, and the United States. UMC can be found on the web at http://www.umc.com.

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