Intel leader says company will still invest

Microchip giant Intel has never gone along with conventional wisdom when faced with a recession and doesn´t plan to change in the current global economic crisis, according to Craig Barrett, Intel´s chairman of the board.

“The conventional wisdom says you save your way out of a recession, but we will continue to invest (in new products) to try to control our own destiny,” said Barrett during a visit to Costa Rica on Wednesday.

He said Intel´s investment strategy, which the company has followed during several recessions since he joined in 1974, has never altered.

“We´ll continue to invest and then one day when the economy turns around, we´ll come out in a stronger position,” he said.

He announced the company, which has a plant in Belén, west of San José, would donate another 450 computers to local schools as part of its cooperation with the Public Education Ministry in an effort to increase computer literacy. The company will have donated a total of 900 computers to local schools by next year.

Intel has also trained more than 20,000 Costa Rican teachers, with its program Intel Educar, in the use of computers in the classroom.

“The alliance between the public and private sector around the common concerns are crucial to reduce digital exclusion,” said Barrett. “We are looking to work hand in hand with the government to strengthen the commitment of Intel with education.”

In 2007, Intel Costa Rica exported more than 100 million microchips worth $2 billion, representing 26 percent of the country´s total exports.