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SUNNYVALE - 11/26/03 - In a move to expand its manufacturing capacity, computer processor maker AMD has broken ground on a 300 millimeter (mm) manufacturing facility - or "fab."

The new AMD Fab 36 plant, is located in Dresden and will operate in conjunction with the company's several existing facilities there.

AMD Fab 36 will be in volume production in 2006  with approximately 1,,000 employees, most of them highly skilled engineers and technicians.
 
The new facility marks one of the largest high-tech investments in the eastern part of Germany since the country was unified in 1990.

According to the Silicon Valley company, the Fab 36 facility will cost approximately $2.4 billion over the next four years with the investment capital arranged through external financing and German government support of approximately $1.5 billion.

The external financing is expected to include up to approximately $700 million in loans from a consortium of banks, including an 80% residual guarantee from Germany and Saxony, approximately $500 million in anticipated grants and allowances from the Germany and Saxonian governments [pending European Union Commission approval], and up to approximately $320 million in equity funding from Saxony and a group of European investors led by M+W Zander.

The balance of the financing will be provided by AMD and other potential partners.

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MEXICO LIFTS CALIFORNIA LETTUCE BAN

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