Mobileye Development Center Lays Cornerstone in Yerushalayim

The cornerstone of Mobileye’s new global development center in Yerushalayim was laid on Tuesday, an eight-storey project that is expected to employ some 2,700 people.

Participating in the ceremony were Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Economy Minister Eli Cohen, Mayor Moshe Lion and Mobileye president and CEO Prof. Amnon Shashua.

The center will cover 50,000 square yards above ground and another 78,000 square yards underground, on the corner of Golda Meir Blvd. and Shlomo HaLevi St., and will house 56 meeting rooms and development laboratories on 1,400 square yards.

“The largest investment in the history of the State of Israel is underway,” Cohen wrote on social media. “An investment that will propel the Israeli economy and Jerusalem forward, and add lots of jobs.”

Designed by architect Moshe Tzur and constructed by the Afcon Holdings Group, the center is scheduled to open in October 2022.

Intel purchased Mobileye, an Israel-based technology company, for a record $15.3 billion in August 2017, the largest sale or “exit” of an Israeli company to date.

Founded in 1999, Mobileye boasts more than 40 million vehicles worldwide are equipped with its collision-avoidance technology.

Meanwhile, the Israel Innovation Authority reported on Tuesday that employment in the country’s technology sector has broken all records.

The number of tech employees grew by 19,000 in 2018, and by 11,000 in the first five months of 2019, raising the number of employees in the tech industry to 307,000, the most ever.

The new figures contrast with reports by various agencies of a shortage of 10,000-15,000 employees in the industry, as of 2018