PM: Intel's $4 billion "FAB 28" to be built in Israel

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told a cabinet meeting last week that computer chip manufacturing giant Intel Corp. had decided to build its new $4 billion "Fab 28" factory in Kiryat Gat.
 
In a statement the PM said that he had spoken to Intel Chairman of the Board Craig R. Barrett, who informed him that his company had decided to establish another plant in Kiryat Gat at an investment of approximately $4 billion," Sharon noted that he saw Intel's decision as a declaration of confidence in the stability and strength of the Israeli economy.
 
In a statement issued later the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor said that the government had agreed to provide Intel with a financial grant of $525 million, or 15% for the first $3.5 billion the company spends to build the plant. The new chip plant which Intel will build within the next five years is expected, according to Intel, to employ approximately 2,000 workers directly and another 2,500 indirectly.
 
Spokesman of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor added that the"Fab 28" project will be Intel's third plant in Israel. The company has a plant in Jerusalem and runs R&D centers in Yakum, Jerusalem and Petah Tikva. It employs in its R&D centers and two factories in Israel, 5,400 people out of a total of 85,000 worldwide.