Santa Clara, Calif.-based chip maker Intel and San Francisco-based investment firm Texas Pacific Group are collectively buying a stake in FPT, which provides software services in Vietnam. FPT, which is based in Hanoi, will use the funds to expand its product lines and services, as well as grab a larger slice of the global outsourcing business.

In a small but symbolic move, Intel (Nasdaq: INTC)? and a U.S. investment group are investing US$36.5 million in Vietnam’s largest software company, the companies announced Monday.

Intel Capital, the venture capital arm of the Santa Clara, Calif.-based chip maker, and Texas Pacific Group, the San Francisco-based investment firm, are collectively buying a stake in FPT, which provides software services in Vietnam, including back-end operations, telecommunications? and outsourcing? to Japanese companies.

FPT, which is based in Hanoi and has 6,000 employees, will use the funds to expand its product lines and services, as well as grab a larger slice of the global outsourcing business.

Vietnamese Economy Growing
The investment reflects a growing confidence in the Vietnamese economy, which reported economic growth of 8.4 percent last year. Vietnam’s tech market, estimated to be valued at $800 million, is growing at about 20 percent a year.

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