Southern Vietnam province invites Korean semiconductor investments

The Mekong Delta province of Long An hopes to attract South Korean investments in making semiconductors, said Nguyen Van Duoc, head of the provincial Party Committee.

Duoc made the statement at a Sunday meeting between local authorities and Korean businesses. He also called for investments in other sectors, including electronic components, precision mechanics, farm produce processing, clean energy, pharmaceuticals, medical items and biotechnology.

Long An was also looking for South Korean investors to establish a training center for high-level workers to serve the above-mentioned sectors, Duoc added.

Speaking at the Sunday meeting, former South Korean former President Lee Myung-bak highlighted the support provided by provincial authorities to businesses and the massive potential for long-term cooperation between the province and South Korean businesses.

The southern province’s geographical features and investment environment are strong advantages, he said.

South Korea is currently the second biggest foreign investor in Long An with 208 projects and a total registered capital of nearly $1 billion, official data shows.

On the same day, a delegation led by Lee Myung-bak visited Tan Tap and Nam Tan Tap industrial parks in Long An's Can Giuoc district. The two facilities, with the respective areas of 654 and 244 hectares, are under plans to become green industrial parks and meet net-zero emission targets, according to Saigontel Long An, the investor of the facilities.

Vietnam’s semiconductor market may expand to $15 billion in the 2021-2025 period, or an annual growth of 6.5%, according to market research company Technavio.

To tackle the manpower shortage in the semiconductor industry, the Vietnamese government has mapped out a plan to train between 50,000 and 100,000 engineers by 2030.

Vietnam has been attracting FDI worth billions of dollars into its semiconductor industry. One of the latest investors is South Korea’s Hana Micron, which inaugurated in September a semiconductor plant in Bac Giang, the first such facility in the northern province. The new project, located in Van Trung Industrial Park, is the second Bac Giang-based factory of Hana Micron Vina.