Intel Starts Construction of $1 bln Vietnam Chip Facility

US chip giant Intel began building Wednesday its US$1 billion computer component facility in Ho Chi Minh City’s Saigon Hi-Tech Park (SHTP). The chip assembly and testing plant is scheduled to start production in mid-2009.

It will be Intel’s largest global chip manufacturing facility and a model for its chip assembly and testing systems.

Intel received an amended license last November after scaling up investment from US$605 million to $1 billion.

The Vietnam facility will be the seventh assembly and test site in Intel's global network. The others are in Penang and Kulim in Malaysia, Cavite in the Philippines, Chengdu and Shanghai in China, and San Jose in Costa Rica.

Rick Howarth, general director of Intel Products Vietnam, said the group planned to invest a further $1 billion in Vietnam.

The final decision would be made based on factors like returns from the first phase and global market demand.

Thanh Nien News