VietNamNet Bridge - The Sai Gon Industry Corporation said on Thursday it planned to invest VND4 trillion (US$200 million) in a factory that can manufacture 300 million microchips each year.
"The strategic role of the project is to create favourable conditions for promoting the microchip design industry as well as to meet local demand for chips," said Dang Ngoc Hung, deputy general director of the corporation.

The factory will focus on making chips for use in smart cards like personal identification cards, driving licences, ATM cards and other, more complicated ones needed by industrial establishments as well as the military.

Hung said that the corporation also hoped to contribute to developing highly skilled human resources for the industry by providing quality training.

He also revealed that the plant would manufacture products using the 180 nanomet technology that is popular in the world now because it does not require huge investments.

"The 180 nanomet is suitable for Viet Nam (at present) but the corporation should prepare for more advanced technology, like 130 or 90 nanomet, in the future", said Prof Dang Luong Mo of the Viet Nam National University – HCM City (VNU-HCM).

"Another problem that needs more attention is the lack of qualified human resources for the project," he said.

The corporation estimates it would need around 500 engineers, experts and workers for the first stage.

The establishment of the plant would help HCM City became the centre of the microchip industry in Viet Nam, experts said.

Ngo Duc Hoang, director of VNU-HCM's Microchip Design Research and Training Centre, said that the Government should invest more in training human resources and support enterprises in developing their design capabilities as well as manufacturing chips with detailed applications.

The director of Switzerland-based Identic company, Bui Ngoc Chau, said that microchips manufacturing was a nascent industry in Viet Nam and as such, it could not compete with any other country in this field.

"Therefore, trying to meet local demand is the right approach," he said.

A plan to have microchips listed a product of national importance will be submitted soon to the Government by the Ministry of Science and Technology.

"If approved, investors would be able to borrow 85 per cent of their capital needs from banks at preferential rates, as also receive tax breaks," said Dr Do Van Loc, head of the ministry's Hi-tech Department.

Source: VNS