Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Monday said his government would invest €11 billion ($12.08 billion) of EU coronavirus funds to transform the country into a leading location in Europe for the production of microchips and semiconductors.
"Semiconductors are a fundamental element of all energy sectors and are gaining geostrategic importance in the context of the digital transformation," Sánchez said at the "Wake Up, Spain!" tech conference in Madrid.
The financial resources are to come from Next Generation EU, a package of economic measures created by Brussels to support member states' recovery from the pandemic.
Spain, one of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic, will receive €140 billion from the programme until 2026.
Of this, €72 billion will be transferred as grants - direct aid that does not have to be repaid.
Artificial intelligence
The rest are cheap loans, which Spain does not want to use for the time being.
The government has so far defined nine strategic private-public partnerships (PERTEs) for the use of EU funds.
Electric cars, health care, renewable energies, agriculture and artificial intelligence are also among the areas being promoted.
