Intel has shelved investment in Italy, minister says

ROME (Reuters) -Intel has postponed plans to invest in Italy, the country's industry minister said on Thursday, after a project to build an advanced packaging and chip assembly factory first mooted in March 2022 was never finalised.

The US technology company has "given up or postponed its investments in France and Italy, compared with others that it plans in Germany," Minister Adolfo Urso told reporters in the northern Italian city of Verona.

He said Italy remained keen to welcome Intel if it should change its mind and fulfill its previous plans for European investment.

"If it decides to complete those projects, we are still here," Urso said.

An Intel spokesperson declined to comment.

The minister added that Italy will soon see more foreign investment in its semiconductor sector following a $3.5 billion deal announced this week involving Singapore-based Silicon Box.

He said that deal was the first major foreign investment in the sector and "there will be others in coming months."

A ministry task force held talks with Taiwanese groups in recent months, Urso added.

(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte, writing by Gavin Jones; additional reporting by Max A. Cherney in San Francisco;Editing by Nick Zieminski and Toby Chopra)