Billions of US dollars poured into semiconductor projects

Lasertec’s chip production line - photo: SCMP

Vietnam has attracted the interest of many large semiconductor businesses and corporations from the US and the Republic of Korea (RoK).

At the recent visit to Vietnam by US President Joe Biden, many large US semiconductor businesses such as Intel, Amkor, Marvell, and GlobalFoundries signed a commitment to investment in Vietnam. They assess that high-quality human resources and the improving capacity of businesses and training facilities in Vietnam are the necessary factors, not cheap human resources.

The almost-US$600-million Hana Micron Vina Company from the RoK recently inaugurated its semiconductor factory in Van Trung Industrial Park in Bac Giang Province’s Viet Yen District. This is the first facility of its kind in Northern Vietnam. The factory’s phase 1 went into operation in November 2020. The company is expected to increase its investment capital to more than US$1 billion, reach the revenue of US$800 million and provide jobs for about 4,000 people in 2025.

The world’s top-three semiconductor manufacturer – Intel – began developing a US$1-billion chip factory in Vietnam a decade plus ago. Intel increased this project’s capital to nearly US$1.5 billion in 2021 and is expected to pour additional billions of US dollars into its Vietnam-based factory.

The US’s Arizona-based Amkor Technology will kick off its US$1.6-bilion modern factory in Vietnam’s northern province of Bac Ninh in October, while California-based Synopsys is launching a semiconductor design and incubation center in collaboration with Vietnam’s Saigon Hi-Tech Park (SHTP). California-based Marvell said it will establish a world-class semiconductor design center in Vietnam’s southern hub – Ho Chi Minh City.

Vietnam currently has several chip producers, including FPT Semiconductor, CMC, and Viettel. Vietnamese technology and electronic support industry enterprises need to make changes and participate more deeply in production chains, and have high-quality human resources development strategies. The Vietnamese Government should have policies to enable domestic businesses to access transferred technologies, especially core ones, to create Vietnamese-branded chip products.

Experts in the field believe that attraction of highly qualified chip engineers from around the world will help Vietnam receive transferred technology and train its engineers.

According to the national science and technology portal, Vietnam currently has about 5,000 IC design engineers.

Giving a speech at the SHTP electronics, semiconductor and circuit training center’s launching ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha said development of high-quality human resources, basic scientific research promotion and understanding core technology are most important for Vietnam to develop a chip and semiconductor industry. The Government will revise and supplement laws on science, technology, education and training and has committed to investing in sci-tech development, he added.

The Vietnamese semiconductor industry’s value is forecast to exceed US$6.17 billion in 2024, helping the country to join more deeply in the global semiconductor chip industry and escape the middle-income trap.