Since last year as many as 10 research centers have established here, headed by the "MIC seven" -- Intel, IBM, Fraunhofer, HP, Siemens, Agilent Technologies and Microsoft. The figure is impressive considering the country had only two foreign invested IT research labs before 2004, established by U.S.-based corporations Fairchild and Motorola. The ministry signed a number of memoranda of understanding (MOU) last year with Caspian and Cambridge University, which are expected to build research labs this year. The MIC is also in talks with another group of IT outfits, including Qualcomm, EMC, Xybernaut, Cyberlaser and On Semiconductor. The MOST persuaded four research investors to select Korea last year -- Institut Pasteur, University of Cambridge Cavendish Laboratory, Dupont and Russia's State Optical Institute (SOI). Among them, Institut Pasteur of France and Britain's Cavendish already opened R&D labs here last year. Dupont, the second-largest U.S. chemical maker, and SOI plan to follow suit this year. Through negotiations with the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy (MOCIE), ATI Technology established a digital TV research center in February. Apart from the investment plan associated with the MIC, German-based engineering giant Siemens also promised to spend $55 million to set up a medical research center. The MOCIE and Gyeonggi Province will combine to invest as much money again in the Siemens facility, which will be housed in Bundang, south of Seoul.