U.S.-based Intel Corp., the world's largest chipmaker, intends to triple its Russian workforce over the next two years and open four new research and development laboratories, Intel chief Craig Barrett said this week. "Russia is one of the top three countries where we are planning to increase our investment," Barrett said at the Intel Developer Forum at the Russian Academy of Sciences. The company plans to boost the number of workers at its research center in Nizhny Novgorod from 350 to 1,000 in the next few years, he said. Intel's four new facilities will be located at universities in Nizhny Novgorod, Moscow and St. Petersburg and will focus on telecommunications technology, Barrett said. "There's a huge opportunity in Russia to create technology, not only for the local market, but also for the world markets," he said. "You educate people so that students can take their ideas in the marketplace and give them value." For Intel, there are a number of features that make Russia particularly attractive for investment, including its well-developed educational system, technical capability and Electronic Russia, a government program aimed at the development of the IT industry, Barrett said. The government, however, needs to create an agency to focus on IT development, cut taxes on high-tech companies, improve protection of intellectual-property rights and liberalize the telecommunications industry, he said. Other priorities for the government should be building up communications infrastructure and installing new technologies itself, the Saint Petersburg Times wrote.