Israel: Intel to Invest $25 Billion in New Microchip Factory
New Intel factory in Kiryat Gat: $25 billion, operation in 2025-2035, thousands of employees, 7.5% tax rate.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “The largest international investment ever made in the country, which will provide employment to thousands of people.”
American and international microchip and microelectronics giant Intel Corp. is investing $25 billion to build a factory in Israel. This was stated by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for whom it was the largest international investment ever made in the country.
A brand-new factory that will manufacture microchips and many other electronic components will be located in Kiryat Gat, in southern Israel. According to the operation program presented by Intel, the state-of-the-art factory will open its doors as early as 2027 and will operate until at least 2035. As a spokesman for the Israeli Ministry of Finance pointed out, “thousands of people will work at the new plant.” Between January and April 2023 (latest available data – ed. note), the unemployment rate in Israel fell from 4.3% to 3.6%. But there is another financial victory for the Netanyahu government: based on the agreement with Intel, the American giant will pay a tax rate of 7.5% rather than 5% or less, as was established for such projects. As the Israeli media recalled, “during nearly five decades of operation in Israel, Intel has become the largest private employer and exporter in the state of Israel. Currently, Intel is among the leaders of the Israeli electronics and computer industry.” After acquiring control of the Israeli company Mobileye Global Inc, a leading manufacturer of sophisticated electronic driver assistance systems, for $15 billion in 2017, Intel successfully listed Mobileye Global five years later in 2022.
Another important statement from Intel concerns Poland, where a plant will be launched to assemble and test the latest-generation chips with an investment estimated at $4.6 billion. In this situation, there is also a resurgent hope in Italy that the planned Italian system focused on the completion phase will finally be announced after many months of endless negotiations with the government in Rome.