Taipei, July 27 (CNA) Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Chairman Terry Gou announced in Washington, D.C. Wednesday that his company will invest US$10 billion over the next four years to build a display panel plant in the U.S. state of Wisconsin that could create up to 13,000 jobs.
Gou and U.S. President Donald Trump jointly unveiled the "Flying Eagle" project at a press conference with Vice President Mike Pence and two Wisconsin Republicans -- Gov. Scott Walker and Paul D. Ryan, the House speaker -- in attendance.
"We are thrilled to build a state-of-the-art display fabrication plant in America's heartland, which will be the first of a series of facilities we are building in several U.S. states as part of a robust 8K+5G ecosystem in the United States," Gou said at the press conference, calling the announcement of the investment deal: "The eagle flies."
Meanwhile, Trump said the financial commitment by Gou is a direct result of his electoral win.
"If I didn't get elected, he definitely would not be spending US$10 billion," Trump said. "We are going to have some very, very magnificent decades."
Trump also told Gou that "the American worker will not let you down."
Hon Hai, known as Foxconn outside Taiwan, said the plant, which will make LCD panels, will create at least 3,000 jobs in the midwestern state at the outset, with the potential to reach 13,000 jobs.
Employees at the new facility will manufacture state-of-the-art LCDs that will be used in the fields of education, entertainment, health care, safety and surveillance, advanced manufacturing systems, and office automation, according to the company.
The deal marks the largest economic development project in the state's history and an important step forward toward the business group's investment in the United States.
Foxconn said last month that it plans to invest more than US$10 billion in a display-making factory in the U.S. seven states competed for the new investment.
White House senior adviser and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and Trump's assistant for intragovernment and technology initiatives in the White House, Reed Cordish, are considered the main drivers behind the investment deal.
Foxconn first established operations in the United States in 1988 and has facilities and offices in Alabama, California, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia.
The Taiwanese manufacturing giant currently runs a broad production network in China with a workforce of about 1 million. It is also extending its operations in India, where it has embarked on a project to establish 10-12 facilities by 2020.
