§ Mr. HagueTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if there are any new developments in inward investment in the north-east; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. NewtonI am very pleased to say that Fujitsu, the Japanese electronics company, is today announcing that it will be setting up its first European semiconductor manufacturing plant at Newton Aycliffe, near Durham.542W My Department will be providing £30 million regional selective assistance for Fujitsu to become established in this development area.
The project will cost at least £400 million and will be one of the largest of its kind in Europe. It is expected to create more than 1,500 jobs by the end of 1994. The Fujitsu semiconductor plant will undertake full wafer fabrication, assembly and final test of dynamic random access memories for applications such as mainframe and personal computers and computerised equipment. The company will also be expanding its United Kingdom design capability as part of this investment. Both the United Kingdom and European industry will benefit from the increased access to the semiconductors that this project will provide.