SENATE MAJORITY LEADER BRUNO, GOVERNOR PATAKI ANNOUNCE NEW R&D; CENTER, HUNDREDS OF HIGH-TECH JOBS AT ALBANY CENTER OF EXCELLENCE

Tokyo Electron to Locate $300 Million Research and Development Center in Capital District

Thursday, November 21, 2002

Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno and Governor George E. Pataki were joined today by Tetsuro "Terry" Higashi, President and CEO of Tokyo Electron Limited (TEL), to announce that a $300 million research and development facility will be established at the Albany Center of Excellence -- a step that will create more than 300 high-tech jobs.

The State and TEL have also begun discussions to establish future manufacturing facilities for TEL in New York, a development that holds the potential to generate hundreds of additional jobs. The combined research and manufacturing investment in total has the potential to generate four times the research employment.

"The announcement that TEL is making a major investment here and creating 300 new jobs is an excellent example of how the word is spreading around the country and the world that the Capital Region is the best place to locate a high tech business," Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno said. "Over the last eight years we have laid the groundwork for high tech and biotech economic growth and job creation and we are seeing the results throughout the Capital Region and across the State. I congratulate the Governor for his leadership and look forward to future announcements about more businesses and more jobs."

"TEL is a worldwide leader in the semiconductor industry and we're proud that they're making this major new investment and bringing hundreds of high-tech jobs to Upstate New York," Governor Pataki said. "With the Albany Center of Excellence, International SEMATECH North and IBM's new chip-fab in East Fishkill, we're creating a powerful semiconductor industry cluster that will transform the Upstate economy and help create thousands of new high-tech jobs for New Yorkers. This announcement is another key step in the creation of our Empire State High-Tech Corridor and I want to thank Terry Higashi and TEL for their vote of confidence in New York State."

Tetsuro Higashi, CEO, President of TEL said, "TEL is thankful to the commitments provided by the Governor and is very pleased for the opportunity to participate in Albany NanoTech's 300mm research facility at U Albany. As a global leader in the semiconductor equipment industry, we constantly strive to find new and innovative ways to advance the science of semiconductor fabrication.

CEO Higashi continued, "By participating in this center, we will significantly enhance our internal development efforts, ultimately allowing us to shorten the time required to bring critical technology from the research lab to the production floor. This partnership with New York State exemplifies our commitment to providing our customers with production-worthy, enabling technology according to the requirements and timing of their roadmaps."

The agreement between New York and TEL includes approximately $300 million in State and industry support over the next seven years. The $100 million State investment will be primarily for capital construction, equipment and specialized tools for research. The facility will be used by TEL to perform advanced tool design and prototyping for future generations of computer chips.

The TEL Albany R&D; Facility, to open in the Spring of 2003, will complement and expand current TEL global research and development activities, as well as manufacturing capabilities in Austin, Texas; Phoenix, Arizona; and Boston, Massachusetts. It will also supplement TEL's participation in leading industry consortia, such as International SEMATECH.

TEL, established in 1963, is the world's second largest manufacturer of semiconductor manufacturing tools, with annual worldwide revenues in excess of $5.8 billion in 2001 and more than 10,500 employees. TEL is headquartered in Tokyo and has 80 offices in 16 countries that engineer, manufacture, sell and service wafer processing equipment. To support this diverse product base, TEL has strategically located research & development, manufacturing, sales and service locations all over the world. TEL is a publicly held company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The State has already committed $300 million toward micro and nanoelectronics for the University at Albany's CESTM building (Center for Environmental Science and Technology Management). This includes the $50 million previously announced for the Albany Center of Excellence in Nanoelectronics for 300 millimeter research in the 2002-03 State budget and $160 million for International SEMATECH North over five years.

It also includes $5 million annually to the National Interconnect Focus Center in Interconnect Technologies, jointly operated by UAlbany and RPI along with Stanford, MIT and Georgia Tech, and sponsored by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the top semiconductor industry equipment suppliers. Total State support for the Focus Center will reach $35 million by 2005.

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