HCMC prepares to welcome semiconductor giants

Illustrative photo

In March 2024, more than 50 US enterprises had a meeting with many relevant Vietnamese authorities to discuss investment in high-tech manufacturing plants, semiconductor technology, and chips. Previously, at the end of 2023, more than 100 American businesses also came to Ho Chi Minh City to find investment and trade opportunities. What the southern city has done to turn its dream of a semiconductor hub into reality.

Talking about investment ambitions in Vietnam, a representative of the US delegation, US Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City Susan Burns affirmed that US companies in many fields are targeting the Vietnamese market, especially semiconductor and mining investment fields. The US government has also developed a detailed action plan, reviewing the legal framework and preferential policies that Vietnam has issued to attract foreign investment in general and for US businesses in particular.

At the same time, the US government planned to spend a budget of up to US$240 million to support American businesses investing in Vietnam.

The moves from the US Government immediately motivated hundreds of leading technology enterprises in the country to seek opportunities to build manufacturing plants or cooperate in investment and trade in Vietnam. For instance, Kine SIC Semi Company is one of the leading companies producing high-tech chips. The US-based company produces chip products of good quality at low prices which can be applied in many fields so it is very suitable for the Southeast Asian market. The company is planning to invest in a factory in the Northern Province of Bac Ninh with a total investment capital of about $200 million, said Vice President Johnny Nguyen of Kine SIC Semi Company.

Prior, Amkor Technology Group - a global leader in semiconductor packaging and testing technology, inaugurated a factory for manufacturing, assembling and testing semiconductor materials and equipment in Yen Phong II-C Industrial Park in Bac Ninh Province on an area of 23 hectares. Moreover, Intel Corporation invested $1.5 billion in Vietnam. Recently, in its strategy to expand semiconductor production activities, Intel Corporation decided to invest in a factory in Germany with a total investment of about $33 billion.

Talking about the investment potential of the semiconductor industry in Vietnam, Chairman Ramachandran A.S. of the American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam said that US businesses are heavily investing in Vietnam in general and Ho Chi Minh City in particular because the Southeast Asian country has improved its investment environment creating favorable condition for foreign companies. Additionally, Vietnam is very attractive in the eyes of foreign investors because it has the second largest rare earth reserves in the world (after China), but has not yet been exploited.

Understanding the investment needs of foreign semiconductor enterprises, since the end of 2023, Ho Chi Minh City has had many solutions to create conditions to attract American enterprises to invest in the city. First of all, within the framework of the working visit to the US, leaders of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee signed a cooperation agreement with the Green Alliance.

Accordingly, the two sides will together perform the implementation of the following contents including cooperation in organizing investment and business activities towards green growth and sustainable development in Ho Chi Minh City, investment cooperation in building a private sector innovation center in Ho Chi Minh City, and investment cooperation in the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in the field of transportation.

In addition, the southern metropolis has urgently adopted many solutions to improve the investment environment and infrastructure to be ready for the investment wave of foreign enterprises in general and American enterprises in particular.

Head of the Management Board of Export Processing Zones and Industrial Parks in Ho Chi Minh City Hua Quoc Hung said that the city has conducted a comprehensive review of all firms in export processing zones and industrial parks. On that basis, EPZs and industrial parks will be transformed into ecological industrial parks and high-tech industrial parks through technological innovation, improving added value and being environmentally friendly.

Particularly, the construction of some newly built industrial parks such as Le Minh Xuan 3 and Pham Van Hai is carried out according to the models of specialized ecological industrial parks, supporting industrial parks, high-tech industrial parks, industrial - urban - service parks. In addition, the city coordinated with the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) to pilot the conversion of Hiep Phuoc Industrial Park into an ecological industrial park. At the same time, the city has been deploying a new high-tech industrial park and supporting industries for high-tech development.

Deputy Director Pham Binh An of the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies (HIDS) emphasized that the city currently has 20 semiconductor investors that are operating in production. Recently, in order to facilitate new businesses’ activities in the industry as well as to support the ecosystem for existing businesses to expand production scale, the city has actively attracted investment and formed new businesses into large-scale research and innovation centers, improving productivity, quality and efficiency of industries. In particular, industrial infrastructure is modernized towards high technology.