Italy to Invest €10 Bln in Electronic Chips

Italy’s Industry Minister Adolfo Urso stated that the Italian government intends to invest nearly 10 billion euros in the semiconductor industry throughout this year, according to Bloomberg News Agency on Saturday.

Urso told journalists in Pescara, where the Brothers of Italy party is meeting during this weekend's holiday that Italy is preparing to become one of the largest producers of microelectronics in Europe, according to the Italian news agency ANSA.

Last March, the minister announced an investment of 3.2 billion euros (around 3.4 billion dollars) from the Singaporean company "Silicon Box" to build a semiconductor factory in the north of the country.

The announcement came after the government failed to persuade the American semiconductor giant "Intel" to invest in the country. 

Media outlets quoted him as saying, "I believe that in the coming weeks, we will be in a position to announce other matters of equal importance."