VietNamNet Bridge – Phan Boi Tran, the inventor of the Yet Kieu submarine, is considering a plan to assemble mini tourism subs in Malaysia despite warnings that his technology could be stolen.  

Mr. Phan Boi Tran.

Five Yet Kieu mini tourism subs have already been delivered to his Malaysian partners at a workshop in HCM City.

The biggest obstacle for Tran to export his subs to Malaysia are customs procedures, because there is no tax code for tourism subs. However, the Malaysian partners will take care of this, he said.

“Everything has been going smoothly. The importers have received their deliveries. They will follow customs procedures and take the subs to Malaysia,” Tran told the local press.

The mini subs are 3 meters long, 1 meter high, and are manned by one person. They run on electric batteries, capable of operating in water for four hours at maximum and diving to a depth of 10 meters.

Phan Boi Tran, a composite material engineer, is a descendant of Phan Boi Chau, a celebrated 20th century nationalist. Tran is the first submarine inventor in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.

In Vietnam, Tran is famed for his invention, though it did not catch the public’s and state management agencies’ attention at first.

In 2010 many articles appeared about his Yet Kieu submarine after the sub successfully underwent a test. Tran told the media then that he would further develop Yet Kieu in many versions for both civil and military purposes.

After fulfilling a contract on exporting five tourism subs, Tran has signed another contract to sell an additional 25 subs to Malaysia. He plans to make the products in Malaysia instead of HCM City, though he has been warned that his technology may be stolen.

“This happens regularly in international trade. Not only Yet Kieu, but many modern equipment created by the world’s technology powers have suffered from this,” he said.

Tran cited the story of France selling two fighter vessels to Russia as an example. Of the four vessels sold, only two were made in France, while the other two were made in Russia. And of the 200 fighters sold to India, only 25 were made in France, while the remaining were made in India.

In the past, the French Communist Party and Trade Union organized strikes to protests the decision to sell a French subway system to South Korea, saying that the country was selling their own inventions.

However, the organizations were told that if France had not sold the technology, Korea would have bought similar systems from Germany or Japan.

“In the contract signed with the Malaysian partners, there is no provision about technology transfer. However, in fact, I have sold my invention to them,” Tran said, adding that if he did not do this, his US competitors would.

According to Tran, his products and the products made by some US companies are the major players in the market segment, while other countries, including Japan and China, do not have similar products.

Dat Viet