The semiconductor industry is of strategic importance globally and Vietnam is participating more strongly in the regional and global semiconductor ecosystems. The Ministry of Planning and Investment said that foreign direct investment (FDI) into Vietnam reached more than 25.7 billion USD in the first 10 months of 2023, up 14.7% year-on-year.
In its report ASEAN Perspectives released on September 12, HSBC economists assessed that despite severe trade challenges, Vietnam continues to be on the frontline to receive quality FDI. The report also assessed that Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam are three outperformers in the tech industry.
Many technology groups have made their mark on investment activities in Vietnam. According to HSBC, half of Samsung's global smartphone output comes from Vietnam. This has also encouraged other tech giants, especially Apple, to expand their operations.
Do Van Su, Deputy Director of the Foreign Investment Agency, said that there is a shift of capital from North American investors to Vietnam. To date, US-based Apple has completed the transfer of 11 audio-visual equipment factories to the Southeast Asian nation.
Apple's familiar partners in Vietnam, namely Foxconn, Luxshare and Goertek, have also increased capital and expanded factories in the country. Recently, the US’s Semiconductor Industry Association and many businesses came to Vietnam to explore the investment environment as a location for shifting chip production.
Vietnam's status and reputation have improved due to political stability and economic progress, which has created prospects for the country to attract some of the world's top semiconductor technology businesses.
In order to begin trial production by the end of October, Amkor Technology Group (Korea) is making a hasty investment in a plant located in Bac Ninh province that will produce, assemble, and test semiconductor materials and equipment. The high-tech semiconductor plant project at Yen Phong II-C Industrial Park, with a total investment capital of 1.6 billion USD, will be Amkor's largest facility worldwide.
Similarly, Samsung recently held the first round of the GSAT (Global Samsung Aptitude Test) recruiting exam in 2023 to support the R&D Center's (Hanoi) operations as well as the factory's plans to create transistor grids. Thai Nguyen is home to Samsung Electro-Mechanics Vietnam (SEMV). The project in question has a capital of more than $2.6 billion.
In the meantime, operating companies in Vietnam are consistently expanding the scope and location of their initiatives. For instance, the authorities of Hoa Binh province have recently been approached by Meiko Group (Japan) to assist the establishment of a plant manufacturing various electronic circuits, which would require an investment of almost 200 million USD, on the left bank of Song Da Industrial Park.
With a total investment of over 500 million USD, this group of electronic circuit board manufacturers and assemblers made their first investment in 2006. Today, they operate three manufacturing factories that produce and assemble electronic circuit boards.
Alternatively, Intel invested over 1 billion USD in Vietnam, and this plant continues to be a major hub for the company's production. Notably, trustworthy sources disclosed that this US-based semiconductor company is thinking about raising additional funding to expand the scope of its project in the Ho Chi Minh City Hi-Tech Park (SHTP).
Other international companies investing in the Vietnamese semiconductor market include Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, NXP Semiconductors, SK Hynix, and Hayward Quartz Technology, which together progressively produce an ecosystem of more specialized semiconductors.
According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, it will coordinate with relevant agencies to soon build policies in accordance with the international situation and regulations, as well as those of Vietnam to ensure the interests of all parties in the spirit of harmonising benefits and sharing risks, as Vietnamese Government’s commits to create a more favourable and attractive business and investment environment for foreign investors.
