HO CHI MINH CITY (AFX) - US chip giant Intel has announced the building of a semiconductor assembly and test plant in Vietnam costing 300 mln usd, as the initial investment in a previously revealed program.
The company said the plant would begin operations in 2007.
Government sources had said earlier that Intel planned to commit 605 mln usd here in Vietnam's commercial hub.
Intel chairman Craig Barrett said the two figures were 'totally synergestic,' with the investment announced today only the first phase of the company's commitment to the communist nation.
'Our announcement is an assembly and test factory, a 300 mln usd initial investment, 1,200 people initial employment: (it's) just one small initial step,' Barrett said.
The move has been hailed as placing Vietnam on the high-tech map, bringing jobs and technology know-how, and potentially enticing other international hardware and software companies to follow suit.
With a dynamic economy and a highly literate population of more than 82 million, two-thirds of them aged under 30, Vietnam is already Southeast Asia's fastest growing PC market. |
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