Bluespace Technology and Microelectronica compete with Bosch, Continental, NXP to develop Romania’s microchip industry

Out of the list of ten companies initially proposed, eight qualified after the pre-selection for the EUR 500 mln program financed by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan to develop the microelectronics industry in Romania, Ziarul Financiar announced on June 20.

Among the companies on the list are Continental, which could get EUR 101 mln for research and development (R&D) and EUR 40 mln for investments needed to achieve the first industrial application.

Bosch also demands EUR 36 mln for R&D and EUR 1.3 mln for industrial applications.

Also on the list is NXP Semiconductors Romania, with an R&D project of EUR 86 mln involving the universities of Bucharest, Cluj, Craiova and Brasov.

But the development of a “Romanian” microchip industry depends, however, on the involvement of the local companies, universities and research institutes.

Among the Romanian companies on the list of eight, Bluespace Technology applied for EUR 11 mln needed to build a microchip factory under a partnership with Universitatea Dunarea de Jos, Galati.

Microelectronica, a company formerly involved in the country’s emerging microelectronics during the communist regime (and dismantled afterwards), has applied to develop a project with several research institutes operating on the Physics cluster in Magurele.

Along with the eight direct participants, 34 potential indirect beneficiaries co-opted in the Project of Common European Interest in Microelectronics and Communications Technology (IPCEI ME / CT) passed the pre-selection stage.

(Photo: Phakorn Kasikij/ Dreamstime)