As a war-damaged country, Vietnam now boasts an annual growth rate of over 8 percent, the highest in Southeast Asia, as well as the best performing stock market in the region.
With Vietnam's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), foreign companies are coming in droves.
Early this year, chip maker Intel Corp. unveiled plans to open a $300 million fab in a high-tech park outside Vietnam's commercial center, Ho Chi Minh City. This was followed by an announcement in October that Intel's venture capital arm had teamed up with private equity firm Texas Pacific Group to take a $36.5 million stake in FPT Corp., the country's main information technology provider.
Also in October, local fund manager VinaCapital and Silicon Valley venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson jointly launched a $50 million fund that will seek out growth opportunities in Vietnam's IT and telecom sectors. Other firms expanding in Vietnam include Hewlett Packard, Japan's Renesas and Nidec, Singapore's Allied Technologies, and Denmark's Sonion.
Authorities at Saigon Hi-Tech Park, where Intel's new facility will be located, recently announced that the zone had already attracted nearly $1 billion in investment, most of it from foreign companies.
Companies active in the country claim its skilled workforce and youthful population—about half of the population of 80 million is under 25—represent an unmatched opportunity. And it is a population that is increasingly tech-savvy, with Internet and mobile phone penetration growing well above global norms.
SGGP