Singapore, April 12, 2001 - UMC (NYSE: UMC), a world leading semiconductor foundry, today held the groundbreaking ceremony for its 300-mm wafer fab of its newly formed Singapore affiliate company, UMCi Pte Ltd. The event was hosted by Robert Tsao, Chairman of UMC Group. Singapore's Minister for Trade & Industry, Brigadier-General (NS) George Yeo, was the guest-of-honor. UMCi Pte Ltd is a joint venture between UMC and minority shareholders Infineon technologies and Singapore's Economic Development Board Investments Pte Ltd (EDBI).

"This groundbreaking is another significant step in the globalization of our operations, and we are extremely excited to join the dynamic community of technology companies that have chosen to make Singapore their home," said Robert Tsao. "As an addition to our 300-mm facilities in Japan and Taiwan, UMCi Pte Ltd. will further enhance our position as a world leader in semiconductor technology."

Investment in the facility is expected to reach US$3.6 billion. The 300-mm fab will be built in two phases, with a total planned capacity of 40,000 wafers per month. Production will begin in 2003 and will focus on large die-size system-on-chip (SOC) chips utilizing UMC's advanced WorldLogicSM 0.13um and 0.10um copper/low k process technologies.

Singapore's Minister for Trade & Industry, BG (NS) George Yeo said, "Singapore is delighted to receive this strong vote of confidence by global industry leaders UMC and Infineon for the long-term growth prospects of Singapore's semiconductor industry. We value our strategic partnership with UMC and Infineon and are committed to supporting this relationship."

"Today's event is an important milestone in Infineon's 30-year history in Singapore. This strategic partnership to produce advanced wireline and wireless communications ICs builds on our leadership in 300-mm manufacturing, and enables Infineon to benefit from tremendous productivity gains that UMCi Pte Ltd will deliver," said Loh Kin Wah, president, Infineon Technologies Asia Pacific Pte Ltd.