Chartered Fabs Achieve QS-9000 Certification

SINGAPORE -- July 12, 2000 -- As part of its drive to bring semiconductor wafer manufacturing quality to the industry's highest level, Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing (SGX-ST:CHARTERED and Nasdaq:CHRT) has received the QS-9000 certification for quality for its three fabrication facilities -- Fabs 1, 2, and 3. The designation by the prestigious internationally recognized quality system brings all of Chartered's production fabs into certification.

Earlier this year, Fab 5, the Company's joint-venture with Lucent Microelectronics, also earned QS-9000 certification. Chartered's joint-venture facility with Agilent Technologies, Fab 6, is just beginning production and is expected to gain QS-9000 certification by year-end.

More than a rating, achievement of the QS-9000 certification indicates a corporate culture, mindset and dedication to achieving the highest quality standards possible. For customers, the designation is further assurance that strict internationally recognized quality and reliability goals have been attained.

"A disciplined corporate culture and an unerring dedication to continuous improvement are critical requirements for meeting the rigorous demands of QS-9000 certification," said Dr. Lau Chi Kwan, Chartered vice president of quality and reliability assurance. "Through the commitment of many internal organizations, we can now evaluate our performance against an international measuring stick for excellence. Systems like QS-9000 are critical in maintaining high industry standards for corporate citizenship."

Chartered's QS-9000 certification extends beyond the fabs to include administrative and support functions, including supply management, customer engineering, R&D, facilities, human resources, marketing and business development.

Criteria for the certification includes a rigorous four-day audit of all shifts. During this process companies demonstrate that they have implemented an effective quality system.

This news release contains forward-looking statements, as defined in the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements, including without limitation, statements relating to the commencement of production at Fab 6 and its QS 9000 certifications, reflect the Company's current views with respect to future events and financial performance, and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from historical results or those anticipated. For example, changes in the market outlook and customer demand, delays in the equipping Fab 6, and non-compliant operation procedures could affect the commencement of production and/or the QS 9000 certification of Fab 6. Although the Company believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its expectations will be attained. A description of certain of the risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements can be found in the section captioned "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the U.S. Securities and exchange Commission. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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