Intel supports Vietnam electricity firm’s IT advance
US chip giant Intel has entered into a strategic cooperation deal with Vietnamese state-run Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) to support the local firm as it applies advanced IT among its affiliates.
Under the deal signed Monday, Intel and EVN will carry out a program to improve and promote IT training for 80,000 EVN employees.
Intel will provide the company with consulting services to implement IT software solutions to boost business performance and improve administrative management.
Intel will assist EVN in conducting a feasibility study on a computer assembly line bearing the EVN trade mark.
Once the assembly line is a reality, Intel would also be in charge of training courses on marketing, technique, manufacturing processes, quality tests and market research.
Intel, the world’s largest chip producer, has committed to implementing Vietnam’s most expensive project: a US$1 billion computer component facility in Ho Chi Minh City’s Saigon Hi-Tech Park.
The chip assembly and testing plant under construction 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. The plant is the seventh facility in Intel's global network.
If the first phase of the project is a success and market demand remains high, Intel plans to invest a further $1 billion in the country.
The unlisted EVN is expected to go public by the end of 2008, two years earlier than scheduled under a plan approved by the government.
Twenty-four of its subsidiaries are set to equitize this year and the remaining six subsidiaries will follow by the end of next year.
It has obtained the nod from the government to sell corporate bonds overseas next year, expecting to raise US$300 million to $500 million in the first phase.
Along with preparation for the forthcoming issue of overseas corporate bonds, the group plans to issue VND8 trillion ($502 million) in bonds for infrastructure development in this year’s second quarter.
Reported by M.Q. – Compiled by Dong Ha
