Vietnam stated-owned telcos urged to lead semiconductor research

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has asked leading state-owned telecommunications companies to play a leading role in research of emerging technologies including semiconductors.

The PM made the request in a Thursday directive on improving governance and business performance and boosting development-driven investment at state-owned enterprises.

The four telcos on the list are Military Industry and Telecoms Group (Viettel), Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT), Mobifone Telecommunication Corporation, and Ministry of Public Security-run Global Technology - Telecommunications Corporation (GTEL).

Besides, they are required to accelerate digital transformation; develop data center and cloud computing infrastructure, digital technology infrastructure and digital platforms, and digital applications to stimulate the digital economy.

Vietnam considers semiconductors as a crucial industry for the next three to five decades. The Ministry of Information and Telecommunications led efforts to draft the National Semiconductor Strategy in 2023 which will be rolled out this year.

Under the strategy, Vietnam aims to have 50,000 chip design engineers and dozens of thousands of engineers and technical workers in related industries, making the country a semiconductor hub by 2030 dominating the design and packaging & testing processes.

Vietnam possesses a series of advantages to develop this industry, including outstanding Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) abilities, a large market with 100 million people, and a rapid digital transformation process, Minister of Information and Telecommunications Nguyen Manh Hung said last week.

According to Bloomberg, U.S. chip imports from Vietnam leaped from $321.7 million in February 2022 to $562.5 million a year later, accounting for an 11.6% market share, only after Malaysia and Taiwan.

Seeing Vietnam’s potential, an increasing number of companies from the U.S., South Korea, Japan, and Europe have expressed interest in and poured money into the Southeast Asian country’s semiconductor industry.

Among them, Intel Corporation is operating a $1.5-billion chip assembly, packaging and testing factory in Vietnam, also its biggest project worldwide.

South Korea-invested Hana Micron Vina Co., Ltd started operating its $600-million semiconductor plant in Bac Giang province, the first of its kind in northern Vietnam, in September 2023.

Amkor Technology, another U.S.-headquartered semiconductor giant, plans to start mass production this year after inaugurating its newest factory, worth $1.6 billion, located in neighboring Bac Ninh province.

Meanwhile, Marvell said in September that it planned to open a new facility in Vietnam by end-2024. Loi Nguyen, executive vice president and general manager of Marvell Cloud Optics Business Group, met with Danang’s authorities last month to explore investment opportunities there.

During his visit to Vietnam in December, Nvidia’s president and CEO Jensen Huang said the giant planned to establish a legal entity in Vietnam and make the country its second home.