Catalunya has presented to the Government a project to receive European Next Generation funds to finance the construction of a factory for the design and prototyping of advanced microchips on land located next to the Alba Synchrotron, in Cerdanyola del Vallès. This was announced this Tuesday afternoon by the president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, during his participation in the annual meeting of the Cercle d'Economia, held at the W Hotel in Barcelona.
According to Aragonés, the project has been on the Government's table for "a few weeks" and will involve a public investment of more than 300 million euros. "Catalunya can play a leading role in the European chip program; we can be a decisive country," the president assured. Aragonés explained that this initiative that bids to receive European funds will allow "designing and prototyping" chips in Catalunya and will contribute to "leading the reindustrialization process."
As reported by La Vanguardia, the initiative is promoted by Barcelona Global, through the Barcelona & Partners agency, and the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2). The Alba Synchrotron, the Barcelona Microelectronics Institute (IMB), the Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO), and the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) are also part of the promoting consortium.
The advanced chip design center could lead to the creation of 200 jobs, and its realization depends on a decision by the central Government, which manages the Next Generation funds. The consulted sources explained that it is a public-private collaboration initiative that will be essentially nourished by public funds and is not spearheaded by any large multinational, but by these advanced Catalan scientific research centers. "The idea is to build a large clean room where advanced chips can be prototyped, that is, manufactured to supply the market," they explain.
During his speech at the Cercle d'Economia, Aragonés asked for "confidence and security in the Catalan economy" and urged the entity's partners to "strengthen self-esteem" and "believe in the productive fabric" of Catalunya. In this sense, he denied that Catalunya is experiencing a situation of economic stagnation and criticized "the defeatist discourse" that has taken hold in certain areas and the discourses about "a supposed decline of the Catalan economy." "Seeing the glass half empty does not help growth," he warned.
Aragonés has claimed the importance of industry and the productive economy and has warned of the danger of returning to economic models based on tertiarization, low cost tourism and construction, a model "that is not that of Catalunya". During his speech, he highlighted the process that has been carried out to reindustrialize the Nissan factory in the Zona Franca and to attract industrial investments in municipalities such as Montroig del Camp and Tortosa, in reference to the battery component factory promoted by the South Korean group Iljin and the wood panel plant of the multinational Kronospan, respectively.
The president also highlighted the progress made in the last year to promote renewable energies in Catalunya and has asked the population to become aware, to be prepared, because "the landscape is going to change", in reference to it being filled with photovoltaic and wind installations, but he has stated that it is something "that we must assume" if we want to have maximum energy autonomy.