(March 11): Semiconductors startup Silicon Box will invest €3.2 billion (RM16.4 billion) in Italy to build a chip factory in the north of the country, Industry Minister Adolfo Urso said Monday.

“Recent global upheavals highlight the need to build a more resilient supply chain for semiconductors in Europe,” Urso told reporters. The chiplet production plant is expected to generate 1,600 jobs at full capacity.

The announcement involving Singapore-based Silicon Box came after the government failed to persuade US-based chip-maker giant Intel Corp, which has a market capitalisation of about US$186 billion (RM871 billion), to invest in Italy. Silicon Box closed a US$200 million financing round in January, bringing its valuation to more than US$1 billion. The government did not immediately clarify where the funding will come from.

More broadly, Europe and the US are increasingly seeking to bolster national output of chips to reduce the reliance on Asian facilities and to avert the risk of supply shortages build a factory in the country.

Intel shelved a project for an investment in a European back-end manufacturing factory. It chose Poland for a test and assembly site worth US$4.6 billion. The company is expected to invest €30 billion in a new chip factory in the German city of Magdeburg, supported by €10 billion in subsidies from Berlin.

Strategic investors into Silicon Box include Hillhouse Capital, the corporate venture arm of Lam Research, and Tata Electronics.