~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
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Orchestrate change

While it's essential to look to China and India as large markets for hi-tech, it would be unwise to overlook Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam

The Hanoi Opera House, built in 1911, normally hosts classical orchestras and warbled tributes to Ho Chi Minh. But on August 28 the ornate building was transformed into a hi-tech palace--an enormous flat screen was suspended over the stage, displaying 3- D software. The slick production starred Intel Corp. chief executive Craig Barrett. In a chat with REVIEW correspondent Margot Cohen, 63-year old Barrett proved upbeat about his firm's Asia prospects and insistent on Internet freedom, though he drew the line at disgruntled ex-employees who invade Intel's e-mail system:

- Intel has a strategy of "innovating out of recession". How will this play out in asia ?
The Asian market continues to be very strong for us. We continue to innovate, in good times and bad times. So we just continue to invest. I don't really think this particular slowdown is much different than the previous nine that I've lived through. You always feel terrible when you're in them. Sometimes I feel like they'll never end. But they always do end, and they tend to end fairly abruptly.

- What are the potential hitches for your business in China ?
Right now there are some limitations on intellectual- property transfers. [But] since China has come into the World Trade Organization I'm much less concerned about their respect for intellectual property. So I'm just optimistic that the Chinese market will continue to grow, but it's not the only one. The Indian market is about four years behind the Chinese market. China is turning into a major manufacturing centre and India is turning into a major software centre, so they are taking different areas of expertise and building up capabilities. If you look at Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, there is huge opportunity in terms of the growth of the market with the build-out of the Internet.

- Compared to your last trip to Vietnam in 1999, has anything changed ?
I think the government mindset is much more solidified. You see the creation of a ministerial post in charge of [the Internet], an IT plan for the country, an emphasis on IT education in universities . . . you need to have a proactive government that wants to drive the technology, use the technology, and put the technology infrastructure into place. Those things seem to be happening here in Vietnam.

- Yet the vietnamese government has announced tighter supervision of Internet cafes.
I absolutely understand the issue of pornography. I understand that every government has the right and the duty to protect young people from that sort of content. But I don't know of any government that has been successful in trying to control the Internet for information access. Mainland China has tried about half a dozen times and basically has said, "We can't control this." National barriers have basically come down as far as the flow of ideas and information.

- In a case pending before the California supreme court, Intel argues that a disgruntled ex-employee has "trespassed" because he sent critical missives through Intel' e-mail system. What about those who worry about a chilling effect on free speech ?
I don't think there will be a chilling effect. Look at what the Internet allows people to do. He can have his own Web site . . . he can make his message available to anyone in the world. We don't have to provide him the capability to use our IT facilities to distribute his message.

By Margot Cohen - The Far Eastern Economic Review - September 12, 2002.