Netherlands’s BE Semiconductor Industries to invest $5 mln in HCMC

BE Semiconductor Industries (Besi) of the Netherlands has been granted an investment certificate to invest $4.9 million in Ho Chi Minh City during a visit by Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

The 50-year investment is located in Saigon Hi-tech Park (SHTP), aiming to rate Vietnam’s investment environment before making further investment, said Nguyen Anh Thi, head of the SHTP. The project is set to make a major contribution to the socioeconomic growth of Vietnam and HCMC, he added.

Initially, the firm will lease 2,000 square meters of ready-built factory in the SHTP. From the fourth quarter of 2023 to Q4/2024, it will install machinery and equipment and recruit laborers, towards operation in Q1/2025.

The project is also expected to build a strong workforce for Vietnam’s semiconductor sector to serve foreign direct investment in the industry.

The certificate granting ceremony took place within the Vietnam-Netherlands high-tech business forum in Hanoi on Thursday. The event, hosted by Vietnam's Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Dutch Embassy in Vietnam, featured Vietnamese PM Pham Minh Chinh, his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte, and representatives of nearly 30 top high-tech firms of the Netherlands.

Also at the event, which took place at Samsung’s research and development (R&D) center, Vietnam’s National Innovation Center (NIC) and Signify Vietnam Limited, invested by the Netherlands’ Signify (formerly known as Philips Lighting), signed a memorandum of understanding. Accordingly, the two will cooperate in raising lighting awareness in line with the net-zero emission target, and digitalization in lighting across high-tech agriculture, smart factories, and smart cities.

Backing the moves, PM Pham Minh Chinh said Vietnam would facilitate investments by maintaining the country’s political stability; defense-security and social order; diplomatic policy of peace, independence, self-reliance, and friendship, along with defense policy; macroeconomic stability with inflation control and growth enhancement; and development of infrastructure, workforce training, and administrative reform.

He also proposed the Netherlands’ top high-tech firms learn from Samsung to cooperate with Vietnam in technology transfer, investment expansion, policy recommendations, and workforce training.