Tag: Bosch

Vietnam expects to come out a winner – Nikkei Asian Review

HO CHI MINH CITY – Local and foreign businesses here are closely watching how the newly anointed Communist Party of Vietnam leadership handles recently agreed trade deals with the United States and the European Union. In December 2015, Vietnam became the second member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations after Singapore to sign a free trade agreement with the EU. The announcement came a month after Vietnam was named as one of 12 countries accepted in the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, which member countries will formally sign in New Zealand on Feb. 4. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, seen as a non-ideological pro-business type of communist, made a strong challenge for the party leadership during the Jan. 20-28 CPV congress in Hanoi, losing out to incumbent leader Nguyen Phu Trong. But Dung’s tenure saw Vietnam make a start on a needed transition, from an economy centered on low-cost manufacturing to high-tech and services industries, particularly in and around the country’s biggest city and commercial hub, Ho Chi Minh City. Tran Nhan, a client solutions manager at Glandore Systems Vietnam Co., a technology company that provides online human resources services in Ho Chi Minh City’s outskirts, said there were lots of jobs in Vietnam for skilled graduates in information technology. “Young Vietnamese generally feel optimistic about our country and about our chances of finding a good job,” she said.

The earth still moving for Penang’s tech sector – Nikkei Asian Review

GEORGE TOWN – Penang’s metamorphosis into a tech hub began when U.S. tech giant Intel set up its first base outside the homeland. Intel now employs 7,000 people in 12 buildings across the state; its total investment of $4 billion has resulted in the production of 4 billion microprocessors. “What drew Andy Grove and Intel to Penang in 1972 remains true today: an openness to investment and partnership, an avowal to innovation, and a long-term commitment to education,” Intel spokesperson John Mandeville told the Nikkei Asian Review. “One of the main drivers was the establishment of a Free Trade Zone in Penang in the early 1970s, which provided attractive incentives to foreign investors,” said Simon Song, managing director of Bosch Malaysia, which has three manufacturing facilities in Penang, making power tools, car multimedia systems and automotive steering units.