Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced on Monday that the government will invest 11 billion euros ($12.1 billion) in the microchip and semiconductor industries.

The investment will be packaged as one of the Spanish Economic Recovery and Transformation Strategic Projects (PERTES), which will draw on European funds and aim to mobilize private investment.

"We want Spain to be a pioneer in industrial and technological progress," he told an economic forum in Madrid, adding that semiconductors were of "global geostrategic importance".

"This ambitious project with significant investment in semiconductors and related technologies will be the key to achieving strategic autonomy at the European level."

The new spending plan, mainly financed through European Union pandemic relief funds, will be approved 'soon', he said.