The proposed plant is a joint venture between the governments of Dubai and Brandenburg, the US' Intel Corporationand IHP, ILBand GCMC, all of Germany.

The project, to be called communicant semiconductor technologies (CST), will involve the setting up of two plants for the manufacture of computer chips and semiconductors. The second plant will be located at the Dubai Airport Free Zone (DAFZ).

'[Commercial] production will start [in Frankfurt] in the fourth quarter of 2004. Dubai's plant will be set up in the next few years,' said DAFZ Authority chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum in a statement. 'The project is the culmination of two years of negotiations and feasibility studies by the two parties [the governments of Dubai and Brandenburg].'

Dubai government's plans to take a stake in the microchip manufacturing plant first emerged in early 2001, following the signing of a co-operation agreement with the German government. As part of the agreement, a follow-up project is to be undertaken at a later date (MEED 23:2:01).