Intel will soon start a fresh recruitment for adding more than 600 jobs in Israel for its R&D and manufacturing centers, reports Bloomberg.

World’s biggest maker of semiconductor chips had a staff of 7,782 people in the country at the end of 2011.

The company exported about $2.2 billion of goods from the country last year, a drop compared to exports of $2.7 billion in 2010. According to Maxine Fassberg, Intel Israel’s general manager, the drop was due to fall in production at company’s Kiryat Gat plant.

The plant underwent $3 billion upgrade recently to get ready for production of 22-nanometer technology for chips. The production of new chips might start this year.

“The fact that they have decided to have both a president and a chief executive officer locally is a sign of recognition of the importance of Israel in Intel’s operations,” said Shmuel (Mooly) Eden, the new president of IntelIsrael. “We will continue to invest in acquisitions in Israeli startups.”

In past 14 years,California based Intel has invested in 64 companies inIsrael. Only US, India and China are ahead of Israel in terms of investment from Intel. Investment amounting to $9.4 billion has been made by Intel since 1996 in Israel. The company has also received grants totalling $1.3 billion from the government.

According to Fassberg, Intel Corp. currently has no plan to set up an additional factory in Israel.

Intel Israel adding 600 jobs in the country