The European Investment Bank (EIB) provides a loan of EUR 50 million for investments in the R&D centre and production facilities of semiconductor factory of Infineon Technologies Austria AG in Villach (Carinthia).
The loan will finance an expansion of the R&D centre in Villach to develop it further in an Excellence Centre of R&D and engineering activities for the automotive and industrial division of Infineon. The project involves investment in R&D activities that will help Infineon to cover R&D needs in the area of the very rapidly progressing semiconductor research: Development of Next Generation Power Electronics, (ii) Developments of Power Components for Automotive applications and (iii) Research to improve semiconductor manufacturing and to achieve the goals of automotive excellence.
Support to investment leading to the establishment of a knowledge-based society in Europe is a EIB's lending priority. It is based on the conclusions of the EU Lisbon Summit in 2000. Within the recent five years (1999-2003), EIB lending related to the implementation of the Lisbon Process in Austria totalled EUR 922 million representing approximately 23% of the total lending in the country during the given period.
The EIB's approach to implementation of the Lisbon Strategy is focused on the links between knowledge creation and the market. It involves all phases of the education cycle, Research and Development, the transformation of innovation into investment, productivity gains and increased competitiveness of the European economy.
The task of the EIB, the European Union's financing institution, is to contribute towards the integration, balanced development and economic and social cohesion of the Member States. Outside the Union the EIB implements the financial components of agreements concluded under European development aid and cooperation policies.
The EIB has already provided loans amounting to EUR 120 million to Infineon Technologies Austria AG to implement investments in the semiconductor area.