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LED plant adds shine to Lao economy
Light Emitting Diode (LED) products assembled by Lao workers are exported worldwide and provide an added boost to the Lao economy.
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Senior Lao government officials and company executives attend the opening ceremony.
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Dominant Opto Technologies on Saturday held a ceremony to open Dominant Semiconductors Lao, its first manufacturing plant outside of Malaysia and the first semiconductor manufacturer in Laos.
The plant is located in Phontong village, Chanthabouly district, Vientiane.
The ceremony was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Somsavat Lengsavad and senior officials from related ministries and the company.
Dominant Opto Technologies, under the D&O green Technologies Berhad group, is publicly listed on the Malaysia Stock Exchange and is a Malaysian corporation on a par with the world's leading LED manufacturers.
The Chair of D&O Green Technologies, Mr Dato Azlan, said “Our Light Emitting Diode products are exported to, among others, China, Europe, USA, Japan, Republic of Korea and India.”
Customers include global brands such as BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, Volkswagen, GM, Ford and Hyundai.
An LED is a semiconductor product that emits photons to create light. “In the future, it will replace all conventional lighting like incandescent bulbs and mercury fluorescent lights and be used for many other lighting applications,” said Mr Dato.
The applications range from interior and exterior automotive lighting, flatscreen TVs, general street lighting and indoor lighting.
Minister of Planning and Investment Mr Somdy Duangdy said “This is the first green, LED production technology in Laos so it will also be a centre of learning, which will contribute to human resource development, the economy and the national five-year socio-economic plan.”
“The relationship between Laos and Malaysia has grown over the years and there is more Malaysian investment in Laos. After this success, we will attract more Malaysian investors.”
Dominant Opto Tech-nologies Group Managing Director Mr Tay Kheng Chiong said that since early 2010 the company has sent about 100 Lao nationals to train for six months at Dominant Opto Technologies in Malaysia.
“Lao workers are great because they are willing to learn, they learn fast and their quality yield level has surpassed 98 percent, which is excellent,” he said.
The company will produce two additional products at the high quality performance plant. The first product is the common 3528 white LEDs, which are used for T8 light tubes and also down-light. The second is 5630, a unique product used for medium power lighting as well as television back lighting applications.
Mr Tay said “By next year, the plant is expected to be fully staffed with about 1,000 workers.”
“With a low workforce cost and high workforce availability, we strongly believe that Dominant can produce cost-effective LEDs that cater to the world lighting market.”
He added that logistic cost optimisation is the only outstanding task that has to be finalised with various government departments. “We do hope to see a daily direct flight from Vientiane to Guangzhou which will help to speed up our response time for key customers.”
“While the hydropower, mining and agriculture sectors are the main contributors to Laos' economy, I want to ensure that LED semiconductors represent a new era,” Mr Tay said.
To further strengthen the LED lighting component, the group will continue to invest heavily in human resources, research and development, distribution infrastructure and expanding capacity including the construction of a second component manufacturing facility in Laos.
vientiane times
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