Techweb reported on May 25 that on Tuesday local time, Spanish economy minister Nadia Calvino said that Spain had approved a plan to invest 12.25 billion euros (about US $13.12 billion) in the semiconductor and microchip industry by 2027, of which 9.3 billion euros was used to build chip manufacturing plants.
The project investment mainly comes from the EU epidemic relief fund, which is mainly used to meet the needs of the digital economy and make up for the gap caused by the shortage of chips and other problems. When Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced the plan last month, the initial investment was set at 11 billion euros.
"The goal is to comprehensively develop Spain's design and production capacity in the microelectronics and semiconductor industries, covering the entire supply chain from design to chip manufacturing," Calvino said after Spain's weekly cabinet meeting
In the context of the impact of the epidemic and global supply chain problems, the surge in chip demand has led to a global chip shortage, which forced many manufacturers around the world to slow down production last year, and the assembly lines of carmakers Volkswagen and Renault in Spain have also been partially shut down.
Spain said it would invest 9.3 billion euros through this plan to fund the local production of high-end chips and mid-range chips with processes greater than 5 nm.
The plan will also provide 1.1 billion euros in chip R & D subsidies, while 1.3 billion euros will be dedicated to chip design. In addition, Spain will also support the strategic projects developed by local companies at the European level through this plan, and set up a 200 million euro Chip Fund to provide funds for local start-ups in the semiconductor industry to carry out and expand their business.
Calvino added that the lack of support, commitment, vision and even continuous strategy is part of the reason why Spain has not yet had a chip industry.
"We want Spain to play its due role in this area of technology, and the EU fund provides an excellent opportunity for this," she said