Piedmont rejoices, Veneto is disappointed, suffering another defeat on the front of innovative companies after Intel’s “flight”. The Singaporean multinational Silicon Box has chosen to build its chip factory in Novara, an investment of 3.2 billion for 1600 jobs from 2028. Veneto had nominated Vigasio, in the province of Verona, as the headquarters of the new business and the president Luca Zaia had spent a lot on this operation; furthermore, in recent months the G7 summit of industry ministers was celebrated in the city of Arena. It didn’t help.
Silicon Box fails Veneto
But why was the Venetian site rejected? The question did not receive an official response. There is talk that the company preferred Novara for its infrastructural equipment, but above all because the Region and Municipality rolled out red carpets for the Silicon Box, making themselves available to solve any problem. As they say in jargon, a question of “commitment”. And they would find each other lands without the need for expropriations. From Veneto it is understood that these reasons are specious, Verona is equipped with everything that makes transport (airports, railways, highways) and the lands identified had no problems to be acquired. And that the government would not have done enough to push Vigasio. controversy politics has already started in recent days and could heat up more. Yesterday in Rome, Minister Adolfo Urso and the President of the Piedmont Region Alberto Cirio signed the agreement with the Singapore company. “We have chosen Novara in Italy for our first factory in Europe, but we will continue to look at the surrounding regions for further developments. Our work for new chips starts here in Italy,” said the CEO of Silicon Box, Byung Joon Han, who had participated in the B7, the entrepreneurs’ summit, in Verona. The hope is that a real industrial district of microelectronics will be born around this factory, but it is unlikely that we will see any investment in Veneto or the Northeast.
La start up
Silicon Box is a start-up born three years ago and has already become a powerhouse. It produces the chiplet, that is, small chips to be assembled together, like Lego bricks. A technology that makes semiconductors more efficient and less expensive, and which is particularly suitable for artificial intelligence. It was founded by the spouses Sehat Sutardja and Weili Dai, owners of the 57 billion dollar giant Marvell Technology in the US, and by Byung Joon Han, former executive of the Chinese Jcet. It already has a factory in Singapore. The plant will primarily meet European demand for AI chips, high-performance computing and electric vehicle components. «Silicon Box evaluated various locations in Italy, and the final choice fell on Novara – explained Minister Urso, giving all the responsibilities to the company -. Piedmont already has other activities in the sector, and can become an industrial center for semiconductors.”
