Doha has been a focal point for high-tech development. At the Mobile World Congress Doha, imec (a leader in global nano-electronics) has announced its intention to open a facility in Qatar in early 2026 to serve as a research-and-development center for the Middle East. This edit position will provide an opportunity to create next-generation technologies, such as silicon photonics (3D integrated circuits) and advanced silicon interconnects. The center will be located on the campus of Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP) and has been designed as a more permanent facility than just an outreach center for imec.
This new imec center will be a location for engineers to design and develop PDKs (Process Design Kits) for future technologies (e.g., silicon photonics, wireless 3D ICs, and high-speed silicon VCEL) and also to develop a new class of design tools for custom integrated circuits. In other words, the center is where silicon design and design creativity will merge.
The center will be supported by Qatar’s partners, Invest Qatar and the Qatar Research, Development and Innovation Council (QRDI), as part of a broader strategy to diversify the economy and to develop homegrown high-tech talent. Imec has indicated that hiring will begin immediately, with a goal of hiring roughly 100 staff members by 2030 across a broad range of positions, including site managers, research engineers, and support roles, in addition to internships and PhD collaborations with local universities and start-ups. The intent is to create a regional semiconductor talent pipeline rather than bringing in experts from outside the country.
The Qatar hub represents imec’s latest global expansion. The company, founded in 1984 in Leuven, Belgium, currently employs thousands of researchers globally and has several world-class laboratories focused on nanotechnology, artificial intelligence (AI), sensing, and other advanced technologies. Recently, imec led EU-sponsored efforts to establish pilot production lines for sub-2 nm chips. This extensive history provides an instant level of credibility to the Doha hub. It is not just a basic office but rather a branch of an organization that has been at the forefront of Europe’s leading chip research programs.
The leaders of the agreement noted the mutual benefits for both parties involved. According to imec’s CEO Luc Van den Hove, the hub enables the region to enhance its digital transformation journey, while the head of Invest Qatar labelled the partnership as conclusive evidence of Qatar’s capacity to attract “global industry leaders.” QRDI also referred to the partnership as a major step in establishing Qatar as an established, reliable node in the global R&D network.
Beyond the headlines, the establishment of the Hub demonstrates a paradigm shift in capitalist economies; namely, that Gulf States no longer merely purchase technology from abroad but also seek to create new technologies themselves together. Industry watchers will monitor Qatar’s development of tools and talent development programs, as well as their first AI-driven chip design experiments from imec, to determine whether Qatar can translate these investments into sustainable semiconductor capability and whether the MENA region ultimately serves as a legitimate alternative design center to Asia, Europe and North America.
