Vietnam aims to attract FDI in chip technology

The Prime Minister has tasked Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung with building policies to attract foreign direct investment in chip technology for submission in the first quarter of 2023.

The PM made the request in response to recent media reports about a global FDI shift with a number of world's leading tech giants setting shop in Vietnam in the past three years.

The reports suggested the government deploy preferential taxes and land fees, develop policies related to the global minimum tax, and improve business environment transparency.

Other mentioned factors include industrial real estate, logistics and warehouse systems, and livelihoods and residence for investors.

The country has recorded some developments in chip design and production.

Samsung

On December 23, PM Pham Minh Chinh urged Samsung to start producing chips in Vietnam from July 2023, at the inauguration of the electronic giant’s $220-million research and development center in Hanoi.

Previously in August, Samsung had affirmed it would begin making ball grid array products at its Thai Nguyen factory from July 2023.

Built on 11,603 square meters of land, the Hanoi center would be Samsung’s largest R&D facility in Southeast Asia.

Vietnam is home to smartphone, display panel, and home appliance factories of Samsung Group in Bac Ninh and Thai Nguyen in the north, and Ho Chi Minh City in the south. More than half of Samsung’s smartphones are made in Vietnam.

Synopsys

In October, Saigon Hi-Tech Park (SHTP) in Ho Chi Minh City debuted a chip design center to cash in on demand for semiconductors. The center, including a chip design lab, is a key step in developing a semiconductor industry in the country in the coming time, the SHTP management board said.

The lab is the first important infrastructure of the center and a move to implement the agreement signed in late August between the SHTP and Synopsys, a major American chip software firm.

In particular, Synopsys will provide software licenses to academies and schools, conduct training courses in chip design for lecturers, and hold high-level training courses on chip design.

FPT

Vietnam's leading ICT company FPT debuted its FPT Semiconductor in September. The chip design and manufacturing company then released the first line of integrated circuits (ICs), which were designed in Vietnam, manufactured in South Korea, and used in Internet of Things (IoT) medical devices.

FPT aims to provide 25 million chips globally by 2023 to serve sectors of telecommunications, IoT, automotive technology, energy, electronics, and others.

Qualcomm

In late August, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Pham Duc Long told Oh Hyung Kwon, Qualcomm senior vice president and president of Asia-Pacific, that Vietnam is willing to create best conditions for the U.S. wireless technology giant to build chip research, development and testing facilities in the country.

The deputy minister said Vietnam was becoming a global center of electronic chip production with a high-quality, affordable workforce of over 5,000 engineers. The country is now home to 20 electronic chip producers.

Oh Hyung Kwon said the company was willing to share its experience in the production of chips; and also provide advice on building legal frameworks on digital industry.

Viettel

Viettel, Vietnam's biggest telecom group, in an August conference asked the Prime Minister for permission to make chips for domestic and overseas markets. In response, PM Chinh ordered Viettel to research and produce chips to assist the country's national digitalisation and development of a digital government, digital economy and digital society.

Amkor

U.S.-based Amkor Technology Inc., a global semiconductor product packaging and test services provider, is investing as much as $1.6 billion until 2035 to build a state-of-the-art facility in Bac Ninh province, northern Vietnam as an important part of the American corporation’s worldwide network.

Intel

Intel has received an investment certificate of $1.2 billion to manufacture chips in Ho Chi Minh City. The HCMC unit is Intel’s third chip factory in the world, besides the ones in Scotland and Israel, and is set to supply 20% of the global demand for chips, according to Vietnam’s Association of Foreign Invested Enterprises (VAFIE) chairman Prof. Nguyen Mai.

Sein I&D

Sein I&D, a South Korean giant, eyes to build a microchip in Hanoi, Sein I&D Vietnam CEO Kim Jung In said to Hanoi Mayor Tran Sy Thanh in September.

Kim Jung In added semiconductor production is a strength of South Korea while Hanoi is a good destination for investment in making this item, given its planning until 2030 with vision until 2050 to develop the city as a center with satellite, smart urban areas.