By Kavit Majithia
Spain’s government outlined plans to plough €11 billion(US$12.02billion) into boosting the country’s chip industry, in line with a wider European push around semiconductor development.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez unveiled the initiative at a press conference, with the focus of the move to be on microchips and semiconductors.
The politician stated he wants Spain “to be at the vanguard of industrial and technological progress” and the project would be approved by his cabinet “soon”.
Spain’s investment will mainly be financed through European Union (EU) public relief funds, which have been made available to partly help the bloc recover from the effects of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.
The nation’s plans follows a big recent push around development of the chip industry in Europe.
In February, the European Commission unveiled a multi-billion euro Chips Act in to bolster the continent’s competitiveness in the sector, while Intel recently fleshed-out plans to spend more than €33 billion on boosting manufacturing, the first phase of wider €80 billion push.
The EU has also detailed a goal to become a key global semiconductor maker, with a goal to produce a fifth of the world’s supply by 2030.
