ASML has signed a declaration of intent together with the municipality of Eindhoven to continue growing in the Netherlands. The company and the municipality will jointly investigate whether the chip machine maker can expand in Eindhoven, specifically on the Brainport Industries Campus.
ASML and the municipality of Eindhoven announced the signing of the letter of intent on Monday afternoon. The chip machine maker has expressed the need to expand on the northern part of the Brainport Industries Campus, as stated in the letter of intent. There are no definitive expansion plans yet; ASML and Eindhoven will investigate the possible expansion. According to the municipality, there is room on the site for 20,000 employees of the chip machine maker around or after 2030. The BIC Noord site, which is located near Eindhoven airport, is currently still under development.
ASML previously expressed the ambition to significantly increase its number of employees in the Netherlands by the end of this decade. There are currently more than 20,000, but that should double to 40,000 by the end of this decade. According to the municipality, the site in Eindhoven is suitable for this. With this step, the manufacturer would expand its field of activity in the Netherlands. The current Dutch ASML campus is located at De Run in Veldhoven.
“As previously stated, ASML prefers to keep its core activities in the Netherlands as close as possible to the existing locations in Veldhoven,” said financial chief Roger Dassen in a statement. “BIC is an interesting option for us that we are now exploring together with the municipality of Eindhoven.” Later this year it will be definitively announced whether ASML will expand in Eindhoven.
Dassen said earlier this year in an interview with Tweakers that the company prefers to continue to grow in the Netherlands. Yet that has been under discussion in recent months. The company expressed its concerns about the current business climate in the Netherlands. This revolved around, among other things, the availability of talent, infrastructure and housing. ASML then threatened to make future expansions abroad.
The outgoing cabinet therefore came up with the Beethoven project. This will earmark 2.5 billion euros for the Brainport Eindhoven region, from which ASML should also benefit. ASML said in a statement that it is pleased with the government's plans. The chip machine maker hopes these plans will be supported by parliament, as they 'strongly support the overall business environment and our potential expansion plans at BIC'.