Saturday, September 18, 2004
Intel CEO all but rules out chip plant for Brazil
Associated Press Sao Paulo (Brazil), September 17
In a blow to Brazil, Intel Corp chief executive Craig Barrett on Thursday all but ruled out building a chip manufacturing plant in Latin America's largest country because of high labor costs.
"There are other areas of the world that are more competitive than Brazil," Barrett told reporters at a news conference. He cited China, India and Russia.
Brazil imports almost all of its semiconductors and the government launched a drive in March to encourage chip manufacturers to set up shop in the country. Intel's only existing manufacturing plants in Latin America are located in Costa Rica.
While Brazilian labour costs are much lower than those in rich nations, workers are paid more than their Asian counterparts and businesses often must pay 50 per cent on top of salaries to meet government-mandated benefit and tax obligations.
Barrett encouraged Brazil to concentrate on becoming a source for new technology ideas and design ideas, rather than manufacturing. "Brazil is a leader in the implementation and use of technology," he said.
Brazilian voting machines, for example, are easy to use and described as virtually fraud-proof. They have revolutionized elections and drawn admiring attention from other nations, including the United States.
The devices consist of a small screen and a telephone-style keypad. To vote, citizens punch in two- to five-digit numbers assigned to candidates to and check them against photos that pop up on the screen. Then they press the "confirm" key to register the vote. In remote areas of the Amazon, the machines can be powered by car batteries.
Brazil isn't known for its high-tech manufacturing sector, but the country has a booming software industry and is a making a strong push promoting the use of free open-source software.
Intel is joining forces with Brazil's Labor Ministry to launch a program called "Technical Student" to teach high school students to assemble and maintain computers. It will be started with a pilot program for 200 students in the impoverished northeastern state of Piaui.
Barrett left Sao Paulo on Thursday for Brasilia, the capital, to discuss the program with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Silva's most prominent technology campaign is aimed at persuading Brazilians to shift from costly Windows products to applications that run on the open-source Linux operating system.
Under his guidance, Silva's administration is encouraging all sectors of government to move toward open-source programs, whose basic code is public and freely available. In the private sector, many Brazilian businesses are already either using or testing Linux in some capacity.
Silva administration officials say the policy makes sense for a developing country where a mere 10 per cent of the 182 million people have computers at home and the debt-laden government is the nation's biggest computer buyer.
© HT Media Ltd. 2004.