Vietnam should not rest on its gains and we need to make an assessment of the bottlenecks in luring FDI, such as transport infrastructure, and information networks
The international semiconductor chipset competition is gaining huge momentum every month and experts now feel that the Southeast Asian country Vietnam is poised to uplift its status in the semiconductor manufacturing domain soon. In fact, some of the country’s own economists stated to Asia News that several international companies are now investing to increase chip production in the country.
In an interaction with the local media, President of the Vietnam Association of Foreign Invested Enterprises (VAFIE), Prof. Nguyễn Mại has mentioned that the serious blow of the COVID-19 virus, the ongoing business tussles and the global geopolitical tensions have created an imbalance of semiconductor supplies and production. The international companies involved in utilizing semiconductors to manufacture smartphones, data centers, AI technology, and autonomous cars have been forced to reduce their manufacturing. Mai also highlighted that several countries are involved in the rat-race to increase their chip production. Back in September this year, the US Department of Commerce (DOC) showcased its new US$50 billion CHIPS ACT to strengthen its semiconductor ecosystem and throw a tough competition to China’s emerging technology.
But, China on the other hand, has also augmented its investment two-times and formulated new policies to support semiconductor manufacturing firms. The reason why Vietnam has also turned out to be a hub for semiconductor manufacturing is because of Samsung’s aim to manufacture semiconductors from July 2023 with an investment of US$290 million. In fact, the US global chip firm Intel has also formed its biggest testing and assembling factory in the nation with an investment of $1.5 billion.
The Head of the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Foreign Investment Agency, Đỗ Nhất Hoàng has opined that the US based electronic design automation firm Synopsys has also proclaimed to they would train and improve skills of the electrical engineers in the country and support HCM City Hi-Tech Park (SHTP) to form a chip design center via a software sponsorship program. During the first ten months of this year, FDI in Vietnam has reached $17.45 billion, which is an escalation of 15.2 percent during the same period in 2021. Calculating this figure, it was found out that the manufacturing sector accounted for 65 percent and involved key sectors of chip production and high-tech electronics.
The Asia News Network reported further that Hong Sun, Vice President of the Korean Chamber of Commerce in Việt Nam (KoCham) mentioned that chip makers want to have stable and abundant power sources apart from having various incentives and a strong business atmosphere. “Việt Nam should not rest on its gains and we need to make an assessment of the bottlenecks in luring FDI, such as transport infrastructure, and information networks. If Vietnam can participate in the semiconductor industry, it will generate a big boost of added value for the country," added Mai.
