BANGKOK--27 Jun--KYODO JBN - AsiaNet/InfoQuest Toshiba Corporation and Toshiba Semiconductor (Thailand) Co., Ltd. (TST) today announced that they would construct a new semiconductor production facility at TST in the Bangkadi Industrial Park, some 35 kilometers north of Bangkok. The new facility will boost Toshiba Group’s back-end process capacity for production of small-signal devices and opto devices for Asian markets. Demand is growing for the small-signal devices and opto devices for consumer electronics equipment and mobile phones, especially in Asia. In response, and in support of a drive to expand overseas production in the discrete business, and to strengthen the overall profitability of the business, Toshiba decided to enhance production capacity at TST, a key Toshiba Group manufacturing facility for discrete devices. Under the plan announced today, construction of a new building will start in July, the first phase of a multi-year, 2 billion yen (approx. 700 million THB) investment program. On completion, the new building will have a production area over 8,000 square meters in total, and undertake production on high efficiency production lines that boost cost competitiveness. Toshiba promotes strategic investments in state-of-the-art manufacturing sites for its high growth semiconductor businesses, including investments in NAND flash memories at Yokkaichi Operations and cutting-edge system LSI at Oita Operations. The Company is also assuring its continuing leadership in the global discrete devices market with investment like that in new production capacity for power devices at Kaga Toshiba Electronics Corporation, announced last May. The investment in TST takes proactive investment in discrete capacity to the international level. Overview of Toshiba Semiconductor (Thailand) Co., Ltd.: Location: 135 Moo 5, Bangkadi Industrial Park, Tivanon Rd., Pathumthani 12000, Thailand Established: October, 1990 President and Representative Director: Katsuyoshi Hirai Employees: Approx. 900 Capitalization: 600 million THB Main Products: Discrete semiconductors (small-signal devices and Opto devices) Overview of new production facility: Structure of Building: Ferroconcrete, one-story Total Floor Area: approx. 12,000 square meters Total Production Area: approx. 8,000 square meters Start Construction: July, 2006 Completion: March, 2007 (plan) Source: Toshiba Corporation Toshiba Semiconductor (Thailand) Co., Ltd. Contact: Hiroko Mochida Corporate Communications Office Toshiba Corporation Phone: +81-3-3457-2105 Fax: +81-3-5444-9202 URL: http://www.toshiba.co.jp/contact/media.htm --Distributed by AsiaNet ( www.asianetnews.net )--