Intel Pushes Vietnam Site to $1B

Intel said Friday it plans to increase its investment in building facilities in Vietnam from $300 million to $1 billion.

The Santa Clara, California, chip maker intends to increase the size of an assembly and test facility it’s building in Vietnam to 500,000 square feet from 150,000.

Construction on the new facility is slated to begin in March. Production at the facility is expected to begin in 2009 and could provide as many as 4,000 jobs, according to Intel.

“Given the new investment it will probably do a broad range of products—microprocessors, chipsets, etc. The reason for the new investment will be to build larger facilities to gain greater efficiencies,” Intel representative Chuck Mulloy said.

The Vietnam move is just part of Intel’s push in global expansion. The chip giant plans to invest $6 billion in such additions worldwide this year alone.

The Vietnam unit will mark Intel’s seventh assembly and test facility worldwide. Intel’s other assembly and test locations include San Jose, Costa Rica; Penang and Kulim, Malaysia; Cavite, Philippines; and Chengdu and Shanghai, China.

The chipmaker first announced plans in February that it would build the $300-million assembly and test plant in Ho Chi Minh City.

Vietnam is the second-fastest-growing economy in Asia after China. The country’s gross domestic product has averaged a 7.5 percent annual growth rate since 2001.