Intel raises investment in Vietnam to $1 billion

Intel Corp., the world’s largest computer chip maker, announced Friday that it would more than triple its investment in Vietnam to $1 billion, dramatically expanding the size of a chip assembly and testing plant that it is building in the country’s southern business hub.

“It will be the model for larger, more efficient assembly and test facilities that will gain Intel greater efficiency and improve our ability to meet our customers’ requirement, making Intel even more competitive,” said Brian Krzanich, Intel’s vice president and general manager for assembly and testing.

The announcement ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and U.S. Ambassador Michael Marine.

The company plans to expand the size of the facility from 150,000 square feet to 500,000 square feet, Krzanich said.

Construction is expected to begin in March. It will be Vietnam’s first semiconductor facility and Intel’s sixth testing facility in Asia.

Krzanich said that production was expected to begin in the second half of 2009 and that Intel planned to eventually employ as many as 4,000 people. Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel had talked of 1,200 jobs when it announced a $300-million investment in February.

The plant will be at Hi-Tech Park in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, just outside the sprawling metropolis.

Vietnam is expecting the plant to stimulate the country’s fledgling high-tech industry and serve as a magnet for further investment.

Intel’s announcement comes the same week that the World Trade Organization accepted Vietnam and a week before Hanoi hosts the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, which will draw leaders from 21 Pacific Rim countries, including President Bush. The event will also draw hundreds of corporate leaders from around the world for a chief executives’ summit.

In 2005, computer and electronic equipment exports from Vietnam rose 34% to $1.44 billion, while imports of computers and electronics rose 26.3% to $1.7 billion.