Brussels, 28/03/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 26 March, the European Investment Bank (EBI) granted STMicroelectronics a multicurrency loan of €350 million. This will help this European leader company in the semiconductor sector to fund multiannual research and development programmes (R&D). The funding will be paid over eight years and involves the entire R&D activities cycle, which seeks to develop new electronic feed mechanisms and micro-electromechanical systems. This will begin at the research stage, through product development and up to the integration of results in microchip systems. The investment will be made in the Italian research centres of Agrate Brianza (Lombardy) and Catania (Sicily). (OL/transl.fl)