Piloting semiconductor chip fabrication to cost $7 bln: Vietnam Deputy Prime Minister

Vietnam has all suitable conditions to become a key part of the global semiconductor industry, but it will involve a long-term, costly strategy, with piloting fabrication of chips likely to cost up to $7 billion.

Speaking at a Q&A session at the ongoing National Assembly sitting Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha said the country needed private sector engagement in this phase of semiconductor development.

Ha said the government and several agencies were acting proactively to develop the semiconductor industry. “Vietnam is totally capable of joining deeply the global semiconductor industry,” he added.

A rapidly-growing digital economy, mathematical strength and advances in related industries like information technology, materials and physics were advantages that the nation can take advantage of, Ha noted.

The government has launched a project to prepare a skilled workforce for the semiconductor industry. Besides the presence of many international IT players in the country, domestic businesses have been growing fast in terms of digital economy, he noted.

With a small number of countries holding exclusive property rights of chip design and fabrication equipment, Vietnam needed to facilitate research in basic sciences to master the industry in the long term, the Deputy PM acknowledged.

To lay a foundation for Vietnam’s “deep involvement” in the semiconductor industry, the government has plans to support select universities and enterprises to invest in semiconductor chip centers with large laboratories, he said.

Vietnam will also invest in several science-technology centers that can be accessed by universities to serve basic and specialized research; as also innovation centers that will help the nation master more sophisticated aspects of the semiconductor industry.

At present, the country is engaged in chip design and packaging & testing phases. It hosts plants invested by international chip manufacturers like Intel, Amkor Technology and Hana Micron.

As many as 15 American semiconductor companies were on standby to invest around $8 billion in Vietnam and were waiting for clearer signals of renewable energy development to make the move, U.S. Under Secretary of State Jose Fernandez had said during a Vietnam visit early this year.