Abu Dhabi government-owned Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC) plans to spend $2 to $3 billion this year in capacity expansion as it eyes a larger share of the global contract chip industry.

ATIC chief executive Ibrahim Ajami told Reuters on Monday that the company's stake in Global Foundries, a US-headquartered semiconductor manufacturing company and joint venture with Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), would increase to 70 per cent soon as part of plans to take over the stake from AMD.

'ATIC's stake now is 68 per cent. It will go up to 70 per cent in two to three months,' he told Reuters by telephone.

Global Foundries was set up in March 2009 as the world's first full service semi-conductor foundry when AMD spun off its manufacturing arm into a new firm with ATIC.-Reuters