Intel said Tuesday it has set up a $50-million fund to invest in technology companies in the Middle East and Turkey, a move that highlights the chip maker’s focus on emerging markets.

, a move that highlights the chip maker’s focus on emerging markets.

Intel Chairman Craig Barrett announced the venture fund in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, while touring the Middle East. His week-long tour of the region is scheduled to conclude in Tunisia, where he will speak at a United Nations conference on emerging markets.

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IntelCapital, the investment arm of the chip maker, has poured money into companies in the Middle East before. But the $50-million fund is the first set up by Intel to demonstrate its increasing focus in the region.

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During the last nine months, IntelCapital managers have seen a growing number of startups and investment activities in the region, said William Kilmer, managing director of IntelCapital in Europe.

managers have seen a growing number of startups and investment activities in the region, said William Kilmer, managing director of Europe

“We felt that creating this fund is the best opportunity to create exposure and help develop the region,” Mr. Kilmer said.

IntelCapital did its first investment in the region in 2000, when it poured an undisclosed amount of money into a portal company, Arabia Online. The business went bankrupt.

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The fund won’t include investments in Israel, where Intel has been doing business for at least 20 years. The chip maker, based in Santa Clara, California, has a factory and a design center in Jerusalem. Engineers from the design center developed the well-known Centrino set of chips for laptop computers.

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IntelCapital managers will look for companies with technologies that complement Intel’s own. The chip maker is interested in areas that include WiMax and other broadband technologies, software and content development, healthcare, and financial services, said Mr. Kilmer.

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Investment Opportunities

Mr. Kilmer said he has been looking at several companies in the Middle East as investment opportunities, but declined to provide more details. Countries where he has seen a growing amount of entrepreneurial activities include Turkey, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia.

The news of the venture fund came five days after Intel announced a plan to build an Intel Information Technology Center of Excellence at the Islamic University of Gaza in the Gaza Strip.

Intel plans to carry out the project with American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA) and begin construction in February 2006. The technology center will offer engineering and business education, as well as job training.

ANERA opened a similar center at the Al-Quds University in Jerusalem in March 2004.

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