FDI projects foster development of electronics industry | Look At Vietnam

FDI projects foster development of electronics industry

May 26, 2012

Vietnam’s export turnover of electronics products is seen growing strongly in the coming time given an influx of new foreign-invested electronics projects being set up and operational ones scaling up production. The arrival of large-scale foreign-invested electronics projects promises strong development momentum for the local industry.
New projects on the way

Cell phones are produced at the factory of Samsung in Bac Ninh.

A source from the Haiphong Economic Zone Authority (HEZA) said a Japanese electronics manufacturer is working with HEZA on promoting a large-scale printer factory project in the city.
Though declining to reveal the name of the investor, the source informed the project worth over US$100 million is aimed at producing printers for export. The investor is finalizing necessary procedures and it is expected that HEZA will grant this investor an investment certificate in June or July.
Not only Haiphong, other localities also see many foreign electronics producers and cell phone makers coming to sound out opportunities or pouring additional capital into their operational projects, even in the current tough circumstances.
Most notably, Wintek Corporation, a Taiwanese producer of touch screens for Apple iPads and iPhones, has decided to revise up the investment capital in its Bac Giang-based factory from US$250 million to US$1.12 billion. The additional capital of US$870 million will be used to import more devices and production lines, as well as expand the workshop to boost production.
The factory of Wintek in Vietnam will supply touch panels, liquid crystal displays (LCD) and liquid crystal monitors (LCM). When stable production is achieved, the factory will export billions of dollars worth of products and generate jobs for over 10,000 workers.
Meanwhile, Nokia in late April officially launched its cell phone plant project in the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) in Bac Ninh Province. The project worth 200 million euros, or US$256 million, is expected to start operation in 2013, turning out 180,000 products per year and creating jobs for 10,000 people.
This decision was made a few months after Nokia shut up and scaled down several factories in Europe to cut costs. This marks a new step in Nokia’s strategy to turn Vietnam into a link in the global supply chain of the world’s leading cell phone maker.
A factory producing cell phones and electronics components invested by Japan’s Kyocera will get off the ground this June. The factory worth US$55 million in the first phase will be developed in Thang Long II Industrial Park in Hung Yen.
Although the first phase has yet to be kicked off, Kyocera has already planned to add US$195 million in the second phase to expand production of cell phones and others. The factory is expected to start service in August 2013.
Development momentum
In a short period of time, many electronics projects with hefty foreign direct investment (FDI) capital have come to Vietnam. This has raised expectations for the development of the local electronics industry and bigger contribution of export revenue since the investors of the aforesaid projects all aim at export and creating global supply chains.
Although the local economy is facing many troubles, Vietnam remains attractive to foreign investors thanks to the abundant manpower and the strategic position connecting China and Southwest Asia, said analysts. The fact that Nokia has decided to invest in Vietnam instead of the experienced Thailand, Malaysia or Indonesia shows that Vietnam is still an appealing investment destination.
According to several electronics enterprises, the electronics component factories in China and other Asian countries currently tend to shift their production to Vietnam. This is proven by the presence of the production facilities of the world’s leading electronics groups in Vietnam, such as Samsung of South Korea, Intel of the U.S., Panasonic, Canon and Fujitsu of Japan, and Foxconn of Taiwan.
Analysts noted these projects have been making great contributions to the development of Vietnam’s electronics industry. The factories of the world’s top electronics producers in Vietnam will attract satellite investors, and certainly boost export.
Previously, the export of cell phones and electronics components usually fetched US$300-400 million per month. However, since July last year, the export turnover of this commodity group has always stayed at US$1.3 billion a month, said the General Department of Customs.
This achievement is mostly attributed to the Samsung factory in Bac Ninh. The factory last year exported over US$6 billion worth of products, and an average US$1 billion per month this year.
The South Korean electronics group is expanding its factory by pouring an additional US$830 million, taking the total investment capital in the factory to US$1.5 billion. This will definitely bring in higher export revenue in the coming time.
Meanwhile, the project of Intel, though just in its first-phase operation, has contributed a hefty 50% to the total export turnover of the HCMC-based Saigon Hi-Tech Park in 2011.
SGT

New Internet policy aimed at socio-economic growth | Look At Vietnam

New Internet policy aimed at socio-economic growth

May 5, 2012

Le Nam Thang, deputy minister of Information and Communications, said Vietnam is developing a new Internet policy to replace the old one, keeping in mind the current situation in the country, and exploring the advantages of the Internet, curbing misuse and focused on socio-economic growth.

The deputy minister
stated this at a meeting to discuss ‘Influence of Internet on the
country’s economic growth’ organised by the Vietnam Club of Information
Technology Journalists with participation of leaders of the Ministry of
Information and Communications, Vietnam’s Internet Association and
international IT corporations such as Google, Intel and other domestic
enterprises.
At the meeting, the
US-based McKinsey & Company released its survey report ‘Online and
upcoming: Internet impact on developing countries.’
The Internet contributes to
9 per cent of Vietnam’s gross domestic product (GDP), which is the same
as Turkey and Morocco, according to a recent global survey.
The
contribution is driven by private consumption of Internet-related
products such as broadband and mobile Internet spending, cited the
survey.
Private consumption
accounts for some 2 per cent of Vietnam’s GDP but is offset by the
country’s large trade deficit in Internet-related goods and services.
The survey also pointed out
that the GDP contribution of the Internet in Vietnam is still lower
than the two per cent average for nine developing countries that the
company studied in detail.
However, Shaowei Ying,
associate principal in McKinsey’s Singapore office, told at the seminar
that the contribution will soon catch up with the average rate and
probably be able to reach 2.5 per cent in the near future.
On the other hand,
McKinsey’s survey found that e-commerce in Vietnam is still an untapped
market with high potential for growth. Shaowei Ying announced that
business effectiveness of small and medium enterprises has increased by
19.3 per cent thanks to utilization of Internet.
It said more than one-third
of Internet users have visited an online shopping or auction site.
Meanwhile, in another survey, 50 per cent of Internet users said they
believed that shopping online provides access to a wider range of
products.
Moreover, Vietnam’s
foundations for e-commerce activity are low in comparison with more
developed countries and regional averages, due to low online payment
enablement, McKinsey said in the survey.
Vietnam has 30 million
Internet users in Vietnam, accounting for 31 per cent of the population.
The blooming growth of telecommunications and Information technology in
the country has brought hopes of a breakthrough for Vietnam’s economy.
Ann Lavin, Head of the
Public Policy and Government Affairs, Southeast Asia at Google Asia
Pacific, said the real strength of internet in developing economy is in
small and medium enterprises. She added that Google will have a
discussion with Vietnam to assist such enterprises to participate in
international markets.
Vuong Quang Khai, director
of VNG, said during the past 10 years, digital content increased by over
50 per cent, a favourite condition to develop the digital content
industry, as more and more subscribers have paid to access or download
digital content.
However, it needs an
appropriate policy to manage it or else it will fall in the control of
foreign countries and affect national security, Khai said.
SGGP

Largest solar power station built in Vietnam | Look At Vietnam

Largest solar power station built in Vietnam

April 26, 2012

Intel Products Vietnam heralded a grand opening of the largest solar power station in Vietnam at the Saigon High-Tech Park on April 23.

After nearly five months of construction and a cost of approximately US$1.1 million, the new solar power station is expected to supply about 30 per cent of Intel’s total electricity consumption in a year for the next 20 consecutive years.
This new solar power station, comprising of 1,092 solar panels and 21 adapters, can directly provide the company with around 321,000KWh of electricity per year without using rechargeable batteries, equivalent to electricity consumed by 500 households in Vietnam.
This is the first and only solar power station built by Intel Corporation in Asia, many times bigger than the ones assembled by Intel in Israel and in Oregon, in the US.
Rich Howarth, General Manager of Intel Products Vietnam, said that the new solar power station would help reduce 221,300 kilos of CO2 emissions into the air every year, equivalent to emissions from 600 motorbikes.
According to Dr.Le Hoai Quoc, Management Head of Saigon High-Tech Park, this new solar power station can become an effective model for the national campaign ‘Better and Cleaner Environment’.
Shelly Esque, Vice President of Intel Corporation and Global Director of the company’s Corporate Affairs Group, stated that this is an initial step to the expansion of Intel’s investment in solar power worldwide.
In related news, on April 23, Nokia Corporation began construction of its mobile phone factory in the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park in the northern province of Bac Ninh.
The 17-hectare factory is expected to become fully operational by the beginning of next year. To be built at a total investment of $302 million, it will produce around 180,000 mobile phones per year and provide jobs for more than 10,000 workers with an average income of $300 per person per month.
SGGP

Vietnamese keep indifferent to new Intel chips | Look At Vietnam - Vietnam news daily update

Vietnamese keep indifferent to new Intel chips | Look At Vietnam - Vietnam news daily update: "High prices, associated components expensive


Intel chipsets have always been a good choice for computer users, while Intel, in the last 30 years, has been proclaimed as the “number one” on the chipset market. However, over the last three years, besides the race with AMD in the “multiscore game”, it seems that Intel’s new products are failing to create significant impressions in the world market, especially in newly emerging markets like Vietnam.

With the launching of Core i recently, the chipset giant Intel seems to want to make a new breakthrough in the market. However, to date the products have not gained the desired positions.

With Core i3 being the lowest chipset and Core i7 Extreme being the most powerful one, Intel has been trying to diversify products to give consumers a wide range of choice. However, the initial price of 2.4 million dong for Core i3-530 still cannot grab the attention from desktop users.

Hong Quan, a graphic designer who is assembling a desktop computer to be reserved for design work, said that the chip alone costs more than two million dong, while P55 motherboards, RAM DDR3, hardware, screen and case all will cost over 13 million dong. Meanwhile, with the components, Quan will only get a weak configuration.

“With the chipset Core 2 Duo, you can get a powerful configuration computer with the same sum of money,” he said.

The use of new chipset line will force computer users to upgrade other components to new standards. Core i is still in its first life circle, while the depreciation period is still long, therefore, motherboard and RAM developers all have to set high prices in order to offset losses. As a result, it is not a surprise at all that consumers have to pay high prices.

Meanwhile, analysts have pointed out that the communication campaigns launched by Intel when marketing the latest Core i series prove to be weaker than the ones used when Core 2 Duo or Core Quad debuted. The latest chipset series are designed based on multicore, 32nm and 45 nm which has high efficiency to help reduce the electricity and thermal energy. However, while previously Intel organized roadshows to help consumers discover new products, so far Intel has not announced any organized activities \.

A salesman at a computer supermarket on Le Thanh Nghi Road in Hanoi said most customers ask to purchase assembled desktop computers, or seek old chipsets such as Core Dual and Core 2 Duo. Very few people want to buy Core i because the assembling costs are very high.

What are the reasons?

One of the reasons that people are indifferent to desktops is the rapid growth of the laptop market. Laptops are also the reason that has forced Core i to take a back seat.

Currently, people choose laptops because they are diversified in designs, cheap, and they allow people to work everywhere.

A recent survey showed that 80 percent of desktop owners just use desktops to carry out simple office operations, or play simple games. Therefore, normal computers still satisfy basic requirements, and people do not actually need high configuration desktops.

With just 12 million dong, consumers can buy a laptop using Core i3 with high configuration. Meanwhile, with the same sum of money, they would not be able to assemble a powerful desktop.

The habit in using older operating systems has also hindered people from using Intel Core i. Most computers are still running on Windows XP, while the computers with Core I chipset would show optimal efficiency with Windows 7.

Vuong Long

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US Solar maker to build $300 million factory in HCMC

VietNamNet Bridge - Arizona-based First Solar is to build a solar panel factory in Ho Chi Minh City.

A US solar panel maker Wednesday said it will build a $300 million factory in Vietnam, boosting the country’s efforts to reinvent itself as a hub for high-tech manufacturing.

Arizona-based First Solar said Vietnamese authorities had approved the investment in Ho Chi Minh City’s Cu Chi district, in the south of the country.

The facility will employ around 600 people and production is expected to begin in the second half of next year, a company spokeswoman told AFP.

Vietnam is still a rural-based society that has relied on natural resources and unskilled labor to achieve growth. But the country’s leaders now speak of moving to a more technologically advanced system of production.

“You’re seeing more and more high-tech firms come into Vietnam,” outgoing United States ambassador Michael Michalak said at his farewell press conference this month. He cited First Solar’s plans as an example.

In October the US-based chip maker Intel opened a billion-dollar plant in Ho Chi Minh City.

Source: AFP

Intel to open 1 bln USD factory in Vietnam - SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY - VietNamNet

Intel to open 1 bln USD factory in Vietnam - SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY - VietNamNet: "Intel Corporation, the world’s largest semiconductor chip maker, will open its 1 billion USD chip assembly and testing facility in Vietnam by the end of this month, an executive said.

Intel recruiters set sights on the best and brightest

Intel’s investment in Vietnam is aimed at tapping growth opportunities in emerging Asia , Navin Shenoy, Intel’s general manager for Asia-Pacific, was quoted by The Wall Street Journal as saying on Oct. 14.

'We expect Asia ’s PC market to continue to grow by more than 20 percent annually in the next few years. We definitely will continue to invest in Asia where we see growth,' he said.

Intel Corp., the first major foreign investor in high technology in Vietnam, started construction of the Vietnam facility in 2007, and 4,000 people are expected to employ for the plant, according to the paper.

The Vietnam facility is Intel’s seventh assembly and test site. Other sites include Penang and Kulim in Malaysia, Cavite in the Philippines, Chengdu and Shanghai in China, and San Jose in Costa Rica.

Shenoy said that China, India, Indonesia and Vietnam are important markets of the US chip maker in Asia, which has a young population and a low PC penetration rate. He added while the company is seeing relatively weak sentiment in the US and European consumer markets, Asian customers and enterprises continue to buy PCs.

Intel reported more than 11 billion USD in quarterly revenue for the first time in the third quarter. 58 percent of its third-quarter revenue came from the Asia-Pacific region which rose 20 percent to a record 6.40 billion USD, compared with 5.32 billion USD a year earlier.

Source: VNA

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