VietNamNet Bridge – HCM City has kicked off the project to develop the IC
industry, planning to make investment in all phases from training, designing to
production and commercialization.
High risks, but big opportunities
Vice Mayor of HCM City Le Manh Ha admitted that this is a venture project, but
it is a must because of the urgent domestic demand for IC products.
Ha said the city’s authorities would disburse money for the industry in 2013,
while trying to attract high qualification workers, experienced domestic and
international experts.
The clients of the IC industry prove to be profuse. The first orders to come
would be the ones on the apps to solve the urban problems, such as the chips for
traffic control, bank card, telephone SIM card.
In the long term, Ha said, HCM City would gather its strength on the industry,
considering it the important foundation for the development of the information
technology.
The HCM City’s program on developing the IC industry is a part of the national
program on technology renovation in product development and high technology. The
state has promised attractive investment incentives to the investors in the
fields, including the ones on bank loan access and preferential interest rates.
However, according to Ha, the biggest worry for the project developers now is
the market for their products. They wonder if their products can be consumed in
the domestic market, and the technical barriers are strong enough to protect
local production. Meanwhile, it is very costly and risky to make investment in
developing high technologies.
HCM City has decided that it would obtain the turnover of $100-150 million by
2017 from the IC industry, train some 2,000 workers and incubate some 30
businesses in the field. The works would be started as soon as possible to be
sure that everything would be ready, including the workforce, for the IC factory
to be invested by the Saigon Industry Corporation which is expected to kick off
in 2014.
The market awaiting hi-tech products
Investors have been shown the big scale of the domestic market, which analysts
believe could have the value of US$2 billion a year, which means that the
investors would have great opportunities to make and sell their products.
The investors have also been convinced that the HCM City authorities would do
everything they can to facilitate their projects’ development. An analysis
showed that if electronic and telecom products using domestically made IC, the
production costs of the products would reduce by 15-30 percent.
The market segment alone, according to the estimates, would bring the turnover
of $120 million a year at minimum by 2020. Experts believe that in the immediate
time, investors don’t need to spend big money to use the most advanced
technologies, but they just need to make popular products for the domestic
market which is now much in demand.
In the long term, Vietnam’s IC industry should strive to develop high technology
electronic chips to serve the national defense. All countries want to make the
chips themselves to ensure the national security.
The experts have forecast that wifi 4G chips would be marketed by 2014 within
the framework of a Vietnam-Japan cooperation project. Saigon Track plans to make
20,000 devices using 8-bit chips for motorbike and car positioning.
Dr. Le Hoai Quoc, Director of the HCM City High Tech Park, said the State should
be the big client for the products to encourage investors to develop their
projects.
SGTT