The European Union and Belgium’s regional Flemish government will together invest 1.5 billion euros in Belgian chip technology firm Imec, the Flemish government said.
Imec will use the investment to expand its clean room test facility with the most advanced equipment and processes, the company said in a statement.
Flemish minister-president Jan Jambon said at a joint press conference with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, “we know we will get our money back, not only in euros but also in societal dividend.”
Von der Leyen, who was visiting Imec, stressed the EU’s stance that it should de-risk its supply chains for chips.
While Von der Leyen did not directly address China’s planned curbs on exports of strategic metals widely used in the semiconductor industry, she said the EU should reduce its dependency on too few suppliers from East Asia.