US semiconductor maker Intel Corp will spend $25 billion to build a new chip factory in Israel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday, calling it the largest investment ever made in Israel, Reuters reported.

Intel’s future factory in Kiryat Gat will be inaugurated in 2027 and will create several thousand jobs, Israel’s Finance Ministry also said, adding that under the agreement reached with Intel, the company will pay a share of the tax of 7.5% , compared to the current rate of 5%.

In the nearly five decades since the company has been operating in Israel, Intel has become Israel’s largest private employer and exporter, as well as a leader in the local IT industry.

Intel has 11,700 employees directly in Israel, at three R&D centers in Haifa, Petah Tikva and Jerusalem, as well as a manufacturing plant in Kiryat Gat. In 2022, Intel Israel had record exports of €8.7 billion, representing 1.75% of total GDP and 5.5% of Israel’s high-tech exports.

Announcing the deal for the new chip factory on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was “an extraordinary achievement for the Israeli economy – 90 billion shekels ($25 billion) – the largest investment ever made by an international company in Israel “.

The Israeli prime minister’s announcement came just two days after Intel Group said it would invest up to $4.6 billion in a new semiconductor factory and test center near Wroclaw, Poland, which is slated to begin operations in 2027. year as part of Europe’s $88 billion investment plan. to increase chip production.

Separately, German authorities are also in intensive negotiations with Intel over the American group’s plans to build a semiconductor plant in eastern Germany.

According to sources cited by the German financial daily Handelsblatt, it has become known that the American group Intel will receive subsidies worth 9.9 billion euros from the German state, which exceeds the previously promised 6.8 billion euros. Handelsblatt said final negotiations on the file would take place this weekend.

The spokesman of the Ministry of Economy of Germany reported that the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will meet with Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger on Monday. (Agerpress)