AMD to build $2.5bn plant in Germany

Hector Ruiz, chief executive of Advanced Micro Devices, the California-based chips company, on Monday praised Germany as a business location and complained that concerns over foreign investment in the country had been "politicised".


AMD on Monday detailed plans for a new $2.5bn investment in Dresden, south-eastern Germany, for a 300mm wafer fabrication plant. AMD, the main rival to Intel in supplying Microsoft-compatible chips for PCs, claimed the plant - to be built next to an existing factory - would be "the most advanced of its type in the world" when it opened in 2006.

AMD's investment - one of the biggest in eastern Germany in a decade - runs against the grain in a country where concerns have grown about German companies moving abroad and foreign companies looking elsewhere to place investments, due to high costs and poor business conditions.

Mr Ruiz said: "I'm puzzled why people see Germany so negatively. It is certainly not the place to build a tennis shoe factory, but in high tech there are many factors in its favour," including well-trained staff, high quality research facilities and good infrastructure.


...
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1083180570246