Business
Intel to invest $1 billion in Vietnam http://www.ndtvprofit.com/homepage/storybusinessnew.asp?template=&whichstory=n&id=34529
Tuesday, November 7, 2006 (Hanoi, Vietnam):
Intel Corp. has received permission to increase its initial investment in Vietnam from $300 million to up to $1 billion, a Vietnamese official said on Tuesday.
Intel is constructing a $300 million chip assembly and testing plant in Ho Chi Minh City. Its original license, granted in February, allowed the company to invest up to $605 million.
The government has since approved an amended license allowing Intel to invest up to $1 billion and increase its production capacity, said Nguyen Anh Tuan, Director of the Information Technology Industry at the Ministry of Telematics.
The deal is considered a significant step forward in Vietnam's campaign to attract foreign investors. It is already the largest single US investment in the country since the Vietnam War ended in 1975.
Construction of the plant, which will employ 1,200 people, is expected to be finished in 2007. It will be Vietnam's first semiconductor facility, and Intel's sixth testing facility in Asia.
In 2005, computer and electronic equipment exports from Vietnam rose 34 per cent to $1.44 billion, while imports of computers and electronics rose 26.3 per cent to $1.7 billion. (AP)