The Ministerio para la Transformación Digital y de la Función Pública (Ministry for Digital Transformation and the Civil Service) will provide funding for the construction of the building that will house the centre and two-thirds of the equipment for the Sala Blanca
The Junta de Andalucía will contribute the land and one third of the funds to equip and set up the research facilities, while the City Council will facilitate the procedures to speed up the construction of the centre
The agreement signed this afternoon will enable the launch of a centre of excellence, which will be the first outside Belgium for IMEC, the world leader in semiconductor R&D, and will boost the microelectronics ecosystem in our country
IMEC will dedicate the centre to research into the search for new materials beyond silicon, as well as the development of new processes and new equipment for various applications, in addition to collaborating with universities
The Government of Spain, through the Ministerios para la Transformación Digital y de la Función Pública y de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades; the Junta de Andalucía and the City Council of Málaga have signed a collaboration agreement that will enable the implementation of an IMEC 300 mm wafer chip innovation centre in the Andalucía Technology Park.
The signing ceremony took place in the presence of José Luis Escrivá, the Minister for Digital Transformation and the Civil Service; Juanma Moreno, the President of the Junta de Andalucía, and Francisco de la Torre, the Mayor of Málaga.
Commitments of the parties
The agreement foresees that the Government of Spain will provide funding to construct the building through the Sociedad Española para la Transformación Tecnológica (SETT) (Spanish Society for Technological Transformation) of the Ministerio para la Transformación Digital y de la Función Pública. In addition, it will contribute two-thirds of the funds needed to equip and set up the innovation centre’s Sala Blanca and two-thirds of the operational costs once the centre is operational.
The Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities will promote scientific research and technological transformation in the multiple actions of the project and will generate the transfer of relevant knowledge to the project.
For its part, the Junta de Andalucía will provide the land in the Andalucía Technology Park, in Málaga, where the centre will be built, as well as one third of the funds to equip and set up the Sala Blanca and one third of the operational costs once the centre is operational.
Finally, Málaga City Council is committed to facilitating all the administrative and urban planning procedures to speed up the construction of the centre, as well as to collaborate in the implementation of the staff that will be relocated from other places.
José Luis Escrivá, the Minister for Digital Transformation and the Civil Service, has said that “this project is a clear example of the economic model promoted by the Government: cutting-edge technology, alliances with leading private agents in their sector, collaboration between administrations, connection of productive activities with universities and research centres and the generation of poles of attraction for talent,” has stated the Minister Escrivá. “These pioneering facilities will be involved in cutting-edge research and design of advanced chips, a decisive area for the global economy.”
Juanma Moreno, the president of the Junta de Andalucía, has stressed that “it is a great day for Andalucía and for Spain, for promoting an exciting project with this second IMEC world headquarters, but also for how we do it, together with the three administrations and the private sector.” According to the Andalusian president, “we are creating a powerful “technological south”, where all the major corporations want to be because they know that the future lies here, in Andalusia, thanks to the power and solvency of the Andalusian technological ecosystem, with Málaga, Granada and Seville as major epicentres.” He has emphasised that “Andalusia wants to lead the vanguard of the transformation process that is already underway.”
Francisco de la Torre, the Mayor of Málaga, has said that IMEC’s presence in the city will place Málaga at the global forefront in semiconductors, contribute to the creation of a microelectronics ecosystem and create hundreds of jobs. De la Torre expressed his gratitude that the meetings to make this project a reality, which have involved months of contacts, have progressed at a good pace and have given fruits with today’s signing. The mayor has given this agreement as an example of how much can be done through public-private partnerships and loyal institutional collaboration. De la Torre has added that the City Council has collaborated with the relevant procedures and provided part of the land, aligning itself with the Government of Spain, the Junta de Andalucía, Málaga TechPark and the Ricardo Valle Institute of Innovation (Innova-IRV), whom he thanked for their joint work.
The project will enable the launch of IMEC Foundation’s second 300mm wafer chip innovation centre in the world, investigating the search for new materials beyond silicon, as well as the search for new processes and the development of new equipment for various applications. In addition, it will liaise between research and industry through a “lab with factory”, demonstrating functionality and early validation of proof-of-concepts on chips in industrial environments such as automotive.
The centre is the first that IMEC will set up outside Belgium and will address the entire value chain, including the fabrication of advanced chips on new substrates other than silicon, as well as the development of prototypes for fields such as medicine, photonics and quantum computing. In addition, in connection with this facility, an entrepreneurial ecosystem will be developed that will take advantage of the research results, strengthening the microelectronics sector in Spain.
Perte Chip
The Perte Chip is the largest of the 13 strategic projects promoted by the Spanish government for the digital and sustainable transformation of the Spanish economy. This Perte, which has a budget of 12,000 million euros in financial instruments, is promoting the consolidation of an industrial ecosystem in our country throughout the semiconductor value chain, with the aim of generating technological sovereignty in Europe and ensuring digital reindustrialisation with skilled jobs.