The information was shared by Deputy Minister Bui Hoang Phuong at the opening ceremony of SEMI EXPO Vietnam 2025, held on the morning of November 7.

SEMI EXPO Vietnam 2025 is the country’s largest exhibition in the semiconductor and electronics sectors, bringing together global technology corporations, government agencies, academia, and industry experts.

Strategic hub for leading semiconductor corporations

Phuong emphasized that the semiconductor industry is identified as a strategic technology for Vietnam, playing a key role in enhancing national competitiveness, driving economic growth, and strengthening Vietnam’s global position.

Vietnam now has around 60 design enterprises, 8 packaging and testing projects, and about 20 companies producing or supplying materials and equipment for semiconductor manufacturing.

Elaborating on the domestic semiconductor industry, Deputy Minister of Finance Nguyen Duc Tam said traditional partners like Samsung, Intel, Amkor, Foxconn, Hana Micron are expanding their investment and production in Vietnam, demonstrating efficiency in costs, productivity, and product quality in Vietnam. Leading global technology corporations like NVIDIA, Qualcomm, Coherent, Marvell have also chosen Vietnam as a strategic base for semiconductor chip research and development, building factories, and expanding supply chains. 

Linda Tan, President of Southeast Asia Semiconductor Association (SEMI SEA), noted that Vietnam has made significant progress in recent years by continuously updating policies, improving infrastructure, and investing in talent to build a truly dynamic and robust semiconductor ecosystem.

In its second edition in Vietnam, SEMI EXPO has seen remarkable growth, with more than 250 booths from 19 regions around the world.

Four core ideas for Vietnam's semiconductor development

Vietnam's goal is not only joining the global value chain but also building an advanced, dynamic and attractive semiconductor industrial ecosystem of the region and the world, contributing to help Vietnam become self-reliant and obtain sustainable development in this field.

Despite challenges such as a limited workforce, an incomplete ecosystem, and insufficient domestic market demand, Vietnam possesses major advantages in geopolitical position, deep international integration, double-digit growth in hardware and electronics exports, a young population, favorable institutions and legal frameworks, and, most importantly, a strong, consistent political commitment from the country’s top leadership.

According to Deputy Minister Bui Hoang Phuong, the Ministry of Science and Technology (MST) views strong political will as Vietnam’s greatest advantage in promoting the semiconductor sector. The government has issued the Semiconductor Industry Development Strategy by 2030, with vision toward 2050, summarized by the formula C = SET + 1, in which C stands for Chip and revolves around three pillars: S (Specialized) – developing specialized chips; E (Electronics) – the electronics industry; and T (Talent) – human capital. The “+1” represents the aspiration to attract foreign investment to enhance Vietnam’s position in the global semiconductor supply chain.

The deputy minister outlined four core ideas of this strategy, including concentrating resources and special incentive mechanisms for research, design, and production of specialized semiconductor products that support the sustainable development of the sectors such as electronics and IoT.

“Vietnam has identified that semiconductor industry development must go hand in hand with electronics and digital transformation, and semiconductor advancement must be integrated into the overall growth of the Vietnamese electronics industry,” Bui Hoang Phuong said.

Next, Vietnam will prioritize investment in developing high-quality human resources to become a global talent hub for semiconductors, capable of deep participation in the industry. The government will also focus resources on establishing key laboratories and specialized semiconductor training programs with preferential and supportive policies.

Finally, Vietnam will leverage its geopolitical position and strategic partnerships to become a new destination in the global supply chain diversification strategy.

Nguyen Cuong Hoang, director of Viettel Semiconductor Center, said the company has pursued the SET + 1 approach since 2017.

Currently, Viettel focuses on specialized chips for telecommunications and finance while building an electronics industry foundation to commercialize semiconductor products.

In terms of human resources, Viettel aims to develop a domestic tech workforce and targets 10 world-class experts. For the “+1” element, Viettel is leveraging Vietnam’s geopolitical advantages to become a strategic partner in the global semiconductor supply chain.

He also shared information about Vietnam’s first high-tech semiconductor manufacturing plant project, which will serve both chip design and electronic device production.

This is one of the most important projects under the national semiconductor development strategy to 2030, contributing to completing the domestic semiconductor value chain.

“The factory will drive growth across industries, science and technology, and education and training. It will serve as a nucleus to promote chip design development, aiming for 100 chip design enterprises and 15,000 engineers by 2030,” he said.

Du Lam