Find ways to attract tech giants, PM directs cabinet

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Saturday asked ministries and agencies to identify ways to attract and retain large, reputed tech corporations.

Chairing a regular cabinet meeting, he stressed that the focus should be on further improving the investment and business environment as well as quality of human resources, and reforming administrative procedures.

The government has targeted that by 2030, Vietnam will become a center for semiconductor chip technology (design, packaging and testing), he added.

Vietnam has succeeded in attracting several large corporations in technology and semiconductor industries from the U.S., South Korea, Japan and European nations. Apple, Intel, Boeing and Google have expressed great interest in investing in Vietnam.

American giant chipmaker Intel has invested some $1.5 billion in a packaging and testing plant in Vietnam. The heavyweight has plans to enlarge its business and investment in the country, Intel CEO Patrick Gelsinger said at a meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in May 2022. Intel's expansion in Vietnam in the coming period would feature environmentally friendly high technology and close cooperation with Vietnamese enterprises, he added.

In May 2023, Boeing opened its new permanent Vietnam office in Hanoi as the aerospace giant embarks on its mission to turn the country into a major supplier for the global aerospace industry.

Meanwhile, the world's biggest tech firm Apple Inc. has relocated 11 audio device factories from Taiwan and mainland China to Vietnam, while many of its suppliers such as Foxconn, Luxshare, Pegatron, Wistron have been enlarging their operations in Vietnam.

However, experts have said that Vietnam has not taken full advantage of opportunities arising from the trend of shifting investment capital flows due to the lack of high-quality human resources and support policies.

Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung acknowledged that enterprises still face difficulties in accessing capital, a lack of support policies, and cumbersome administrative procedures.

"Some businesses and real estate projects are encountering legal problems that are yet to be resolved," he noted.

The situation exerts pressure on growth management, macroeconomic stability and major balances in investment, consumption and welfare this year, he added.

The Ministry of Science and Technology is completing groundbreaking policy mechanisms to attract high-quality human resources in the semiconductors industry and promote development of chip design and research facilities, Minister Huynh Thanh Dat said in an interview published Monday by the government's news portal.

During his visit to Vietnam, Under Secretary of State Jose Fernandez on January 26 said that as many as 15 U.S. semiconductor companies are prepared to invest circa $8 billion in Vietnam and are waiting for clearer signals of renewable energy development to make the move. All the companies have made commitments to their shareholders and customers that they will use only renewable energy, so they are waiting for a renewable energy regime in Vietnam to expand, he said.

Vietnam attracted $4.29 billion in FDI in the first two months of this year, up 38.6% year-on-year. The two-month figure included $3.6 billion committed for 405 newly-licensed projects, more than double year-on-year in value; $442.1 million added to 159 existing projects, down 17.4% in value; and $255.4 million registered for 174 capital contribution transactions, down 68% in value.