Globalfoundries will become the second largest semiconductor foundry in the next two years, the chairman of the Advanced Technology Investment Company (Atic) said during a speech to an energy conference in Abu Dhabi yesterday. "Give us about four years and you'll see the first foundry," Waleed al Muhairi, the chairman of the Advanced Technology Investment Company (Atic), was reported to say during a speech in Abu Dhabi yesterday.

Atic currently owns a controlling stake in Globalfoundries, the semiconductor maker that is ran as a joint venture with AMD, the world's second largest computer chipmaker. Globalfoundries currently operates a semiconductor foundry in Germany, and broke ground earlier in the year on a second facility in the state of New York.

Atic recently acquired Singaporean chipmaker Chartered Semiconductor, and said it would integrate the business into Globalfoundries, creating what will be the world's second largest chipmaker. The move could put the business into competition with Taiwan's TSMC, the world's largest manufacturer.

In addition, ATIC's chairman announced that Abu Dhabi will be home to a microchip fabrication plant within four years. The move has the support of the Massachussetts Institute of Technology (MIT). MIT is expected to bring designers, process engineers and material scientists into the local fabrication business.