Intel to invest $2 b in Ireland

DUBLIN: U.S. chip maker Intel Corp plans to invest 1.6 billion euros ($1.92 billion) in a further expansion of its manufacturing operation in Ireland, the Irish government said on Wednesday. The investment at the company's semi-conductor production site in Leixslip outside Dublin would enable Intel to make the next generation of microprocessors and would bring the total number employed at the plant to more than 5,000, the government said.

Since arriving in Ireland in 1989 the world's biggest maker of computer chips has invested more than 4.5 billion euros at Leixslip, which is its main production plant for the European market and its biggest operation outside the United States.

Deputy Prime Minister Mary Harney, who is also minister for enterprise, trade and employment, welcomed Intel's decision.

"Ireland faced stiff competition ... for this investment ... and this confirms (our) position as a world class technology location," she said in a statement.

Intel plans to begin producing the next generation of micro-chips, which will be smaller, faster and more efficient while using less power, at Leixslip in the first half of 2006.

After two years of downturn, the semi-conductor market accelerated in the last quarter of 2003 and worldwide sales are expected to grow by 20 percent this year, the statement said.

California-based Intel holds around 17 percent of the world market for semi-conductors and employs some 80,000 people in 120 countries.

©Reuters