Italian PM to meet with Intel to discuss multibillion investment in country
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Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said she will meet with Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) in an effort to coordinate the semiconductor giant's investment in the country as it looks to expand its global presence.
"In the coming days I'll seek to schedule a meeting, to ask Intel what we can do to facilitate their investment in Italy, which I think is highly strategic," Meloni said during a press conference, according to Reuters.
Intel (INTC) shares rose 1% to $25.82 in premarket trading on Thursday.
In August, it was reported that Italy was close to signing a deal that could be worth $5B initially with the Italian government to build a packaging and assembly plant in the country.
At the time, the government of former Prime Minister Mario Draghi hoped to have an agreement by the end of August, but that did not happen.
One month later, it was reported that Intel (INTC) had picked the town of Vigasio in the Italian region Veneto, roughly 70 miles west of Venice, for its new multi-billion dollar chip factory in the European country.
Vigasio was reportedly picked as it is close to Germany, where Intel (INTC) is slated to build two factories. Piedmont, Lombardy, Apulia and Sicily were also considered as potential locales for the plant.
The new factory is expected to start producing chips between 2025 and 2027 and is slated to be an advanced semiconductor packaging and assembly plant.
The plant is part of the semiconductor giant's plan to invest $77.5B in Europe over the next decade.
Intel (INTC) was recently listed as one of investment firm UBS's top semiconductor stocks for 2023.