Intel seeks to build $605 mln Vietnam chip plant
Wed Jan 4, 2006 10:59 PM ET
HANOI (Reuters) - Intel Corp. (INTC.O: Quote, Profile, Research), the world's largest microchip maker, is seeking to build a $605 million plant in Vietnam to produce chips and computer parts, a senior government official said on Thursday.
The application, which would make Intel Vietnam's first major foreign investor in the field, was under consideration, said Phan Huu Thang, head of the Planning and Investment Ministry's Foreign Investment Department.
"We have just received the application, so it's not possible now to say anything about the licensing," Thang said.
Once given the go-ahead by the ministry, which oversees foreign investment, Intel would set up a Vietnam-based firm to build and run the plant in a high-tech zone in Ho Chi Minh City, the country's commercial center.
A Science and Technology Ministry official said Intel intended the output of the plant for export.
"This is a very high-tech project and if licensed, Intel will become the first and the biggest foreign company to invest in Vietnam's high technology," he said.
Vietnam has been accelerating investment in technology in recent years. It spent more than $5 billion last year on importing machinery and spare parts.
While major players have yet to arrive, the country's exports of computers and electronics jumped 34.1 percent to $1.44 billion in 2005 from a year earlier, and it also spent $1.7 billion on electronic goods and computers, government figures show.
Science and Technology Ministry officials said the licensing for Intel would help draw more foreign investors, including those in related businesses.
In December, Deputy Planning and Investment Minister Nguyen Bich Dat said Vietnam expected to attract $6 billion in foreign direct investment in 2006, including funds for major projects in high technology and infrastructure.
Last year, the Southeast Asian country received $5.8 billion in foreign direct investment, a rise of 38 percent from $4.2 billion in 2004, and disbursement also rose 15.8 percent to $3.3 billion.
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