According to Deputy Minister of Finance Nguyen Duc Tam, Vietnam currently hosts 170 foreign investment projects in the semiconductor field, with a total registered capital of nearly USD 11.6 billion. These projects mainly focus on two key stages: chip design and chip packaging/testing. Vietnam also has around 50 domestic enterprises specializing in integrated circuit design, employing more than 7,000 engineers, along with 15 enterprises and over 10,000 technicians involved in packaging, testing, and manufacturing semiconductor equipment and materials. Long-standing major partners such as Samsung, Intel, Amkor, Foxconn, and Hana Micron continue to expand their investment and production activities in Vietnam, demonstrating the country’s advantages in cost efficiency, productivity, and product quality.

Meanwhile, leading global technology corporations such as NVIDIA, Qualcomm, Coherent, and Marvell have also chosen Vietnam as a strategic hub for semiconductor research and development, factory establishment, and supply chain expansion.

Vietnam holds an advantage in wind power to develop in parallel with semiconductor industrial zones. (A wind power plant in Dak Lak province)

According to Ms. SoYoung Jang – Director of the Energy Cooperation and Alliances Division at SEMI – clean energy is becoming the factor that determines a nation’s position in the global semiconductor race. Meanwhile, more than 80% of the industry’s emissions come from electricity consumption. Global technology corporations, such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Apple, all require their supply chains to demonstrate the ability to reduce emissions and utilize renewable energy. This makes “clean energy” a new competitive criterion for countries in the semiconductor technology race.

Therefore, to keep up with the rapid development of high technology in the semiconductor industry, Vietnam needs a clean, stable, and internationally competitive energy foundation. “Vietnam has tremendous potential to develop green energy infrastructure thanks to its advantages in wind and solar power, along with policies that encourage investment in renewable energy,” Ms. SoYoung Jang said.

Vietnam is oriented toward developing high-tech industrial parks integrated with renewable energy solutions, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing energy efficiency in production. Experts believe that to achieve this goal, Vietnam needs to soon issue a sustainable energy roadmap specifically for the semiconductor industry, focusing on four main directions: completing the legal framework for clean energy investment; developing wind and solar power infrastructure in parallel with semiconductor industrial zones; expanding international cooperation in energy technology transfer; and creating green financial mechanisms to encourage enterprises to invest in energy-efficient infrastructure.

Translator: Vân Ly