According to Reuters, Vigasio would be the location chosen for the construction of the national production plant. No site in Piedmont and even less in the South. But the last word will be up to the new government. The outgoing government led by Mario Draghi and Intel would have chosen the city of Vigasio, in north-eastern Veneto, as a site in Italy for the construction of a new multi-billion euro chip factory.
The new site should be built in Vigasio, near Verona, on the strategic Brenner motorway and railway. Vigasio was the choice in a squad that also included options in Piedmont, Lombardy, Puglia and Sicily. The site is also well connected with Germany and in particular with the city of Magdeburg, where Intel will build two factories.
According to reports, Intel will create 1,500 jobs in Italy plus another 3,500 between suppliers and partners, with the start of activities between 2025 and 2027. All this should be made possible with an initial investment of about 4.5 billion. euro, destined to grow over time.
Intel’s plan in Italy, which is part of a long-term program announced by the US chip maker last March, provides for investments of up to 80 billion euros (77.5 billion dollars) over the next decade to build new production throughout Europe. If all goes as planned, the Italy-based advanced semiconductor packaging and assembly plant will begin operations between 2025-27. It will be joining two chipmaking plants in Magdeburg (Germany), another new fab in Leixlip (Ireland), a new R&D and chip design center in France, and a lab extension for Poland.
As anonymous sources told Reuters, the parties have already reached an agreement in early September. The announcement should be made after this electoral phase, with Draghi’s collaborators intending to discuss with their successors to prevent the agreement from being questioned by the new government. The state contribution to Intel’s investment program must in fact be shared with the next government before any agreement is formalized.