News

Intel Invests Additional $15 Billion In Israeli Chip Facility

Intel’s huge investment comes in addition to the $10 billion already committed by the well-known processor company back in 2019.

Published

3 years ago

June 19, 2023

Nour Nasir

Intel

On Sunday, Israel’s Ministry of Finance announced that the country had reached a new agreement with processor giant Intel that will see $25 billion of investment go towards an updated chip-making facility in Kiryat Gat.

The investment adds another $15 billion on top of the $10 billion earmarked for the proposed factory back in 2019, after the global COVID pandemic delayed construction. The new facility will be significantly more advanced than in the original plans, forming part of a larger production site known as Megafab.

Intel hasn’t yet commented directly on the investment details, but a press release was quick to praise Israeli expertise: “Israel is a global center of technical talent and innovation and one of Intel’s significant global manufacturing and R&D centers. Since its establishment in 1974, Intel Israel has played a crucial role in Intel’s global success. Our intention to expand manufacturing capacity in Israel is driven by our commitment to meeting future manufacturing needs and supporting Intel’s IDM 2.0 strategy, and we appreciate the continued support of the Israeli government”.

Also Read: Dubai Hospital Delivery Drone Completes Successful First Trial

Formal approval of the new agreement is expected to happen in a few weeks as Intel ramps up its international efforts to expand worldwide production capacity. According to a press release from the Israeli finance ministry, thousands of additional technicians will be required in Kiryat Gat, with Intel offering higher wages than the industry average. Additionally, the processor company has agreed to increase its tax obligations from 5% to 7.5%. Intel aims to close the investment deal and commence plant operations by 2027, operating the complex until at least 2035.

As manufacturers like Apple opt to develop their own processor architectures, Intel increasingly needs to adapt to a changing global market worth trillions of dollars. The company’s recent investment in Israel comes shortly after announcing a $4.6 billion deal to build a chip assembly and testing facility in Warsaw, Poland, and joins existing manufacturing facilities in Ireland and Germany.

News

Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon

Foreign visitors will be the first users to benefit, but whether Syria’s own banks and cardholders follow is still an open question.

Published

2 weeks ago

August 27, 2026

Dana Saadeh

visa's return to syria starts with a test and a bank in lebanon

Visa is returning to Syria. Its first live international card transaction in the country was a test rather than a launch, and the milestone event ran through a Lebanese bank.

The acquirer (the bank on the merchant’s side of a card payment) was Fransabank Lebanon, with Paymera as the other named partner. Nadim Moujaes, who heads a Fransabank Group subsidiary, describes the test as both the culmination of “longstanding efforts to link Syria back to international payment networks” and “the first step in a larger path”.

Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa makes the first electronic payment in Syria using a @Visa card at a store in Damascus, following the lifting of US sanctions on Syria. pic.twitter.com/lpAN7nQ6Fc

— Tech Magazine (@TechMGZN) August 27, 2026

“We are excited to have successfully tested live transactions today as we plan to enable international visitors to use their Visa cards while in Syria,” says Leila Serhan, Visa’s senior vice president and group country manager for the North Africa, Levant and Pakistan region. Although a significant first step, that plan doesn’t come with a hard date for when a visitor’s card will work normally.

Mohammed Safwat Raslan, governor of the Central Bank of Syria, says the test paves the way for international card acceptance in Syria and that maintaining strong compliance, risk management and operational controls will remain essential. Serhan likewise stresses that Visa has worked within applicable legal, regulatory and compliance requirements. For a test transaction, it seems there was a great deal of attention paid to the rules, with the entire operation being carefully managed.

Also Read: Lebanon’s 5G Era Begins With 150 Stations And A $1M Budget

The test is the latest step in a sequence that began in December 2025, when Visa announced a strategic roadmap to support Syria’s integration into the global digital economy. In February 2026 it hosted its first industry gathering of banks, ecosystem partners and policymakers in Damascus and, the same month, signed an agreement with Syria’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in San Francisco.

Michel Kattouah, Paymera’s CEO, called the test “the return of international card acceptance,” but while that’s positive news, there’s no word yet on when a Syrian bank will issue a Visa card to a Syrian customer.