MADRID (Reuters) - Spain will launch a new state-owned technology investment company to boost the country's semiconductor and audiovisual industries, among others, Digital Transformation Minister Jose Luis Escriva said on Monday.
Escriva told reporters at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona that the entity, named Spanish Society for Technological Transformation (SETT), would be able to mobilise an initial capital of 20 billion euros ($21.7 billion).
The SETT will be tasked with promoting and implementing investments in strategic high-tech sectors such as telecommunications, he added.
In December, the Spanish government announced it would buy a stake of up to 10% in Telefonica (BME:TEF) as a counterbalance to the acquisition of a large stake in the telecoms giant by Saudi Arabia's STC.
Asked if Madrid was planning to use SETT to gain that stake in Telefonica, Escriva replied that it would "make sense, but it's something that we'll decide over time".
The SETT will also provide consultancy services and help build infrastructure related to the semiconductor industry, as well as attract investors and technical know-how to public-private partnerships, the ministry said in a separate statement.
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