Pedro Sanchez announces €11 billion investment for Spain’s microchip and semiconductor sector

SPAIN’S government is planning to invest €11 billion in the country’s microchip and semiconductor sectors.

Speaking at Monday’s ‘Wake Up Spain’ economic forum in Madrid, Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez said he hoped to get funding from the European Union and private investors.

In February, the EU said it wanted to get a 30% share of the world’s micro-pressing manufacturing sector by 2030 with a pot made available of up to €43 billion to achieve that target.

Pedro Sanchez said: “We want Spain to be at the forefront of industrial and technological progress and semiconductors are of global geostrategic importance.”

“This ambitious project to bring major investments to semiconductors and related technology will be key to reaching strategic autonomy at the European level.” he added.

The initiative will become one of the country’s Strategic Projects for Economic Recovery and Transformation (PERTES).

The project will be approved by the government ‘soon’, Sanchez said.

The announcement comes as Spain seeks to diversify its industrial base and to reduce dependence on imports, especially in the wake of the Ukraine war.

“This crisis will not be used as an excuse for us not to progress and do what we need to do.”

“On the contrary, moments like these are when we should reaffirm our principles and the elements that will allow us to win the future,” the Prime Minister observed.

READ MORE:

• DESPERATE TIMES… Ford manufacturers in Spain’s Valencia to launch stripped-down models due to global microchip shortage
• Spain’s inflation rate surges to 9.8%- highest figure since 1985