PM requests Samsung to manufacture chips in Vietnam

Chinh said he hoped that Samsung would "prepare necessary requirements to manufacture ball grid array products as a trial, aiming towards mass production starting July 2023 at the Samsung Thai Nguyen factory."

Previously in August, Samsung announced on its website that it was preparing to trial its ball grid array products, and would mass produce them starting mid-2023. Semiconductors would mark the third business for Samsung in Vietnam, where the tech giant is already manufacturing appliances and smartphones, the Nikkei Asia reported.

Chinh said Samsung is the largest foreign investor in Vietnam, with a total registered investment capital at nearly $20 billion. The business has made important contributions to Vietnam regarding export revenues, creating jobs and contributing taxes to the national budget.

"This R&D center would be the leading facility in Southeast Asia and the world," Chinh said, adding that collaboration and research need to bring positive values to both sides.

The semiconductor industry has been thriving in the past few years in Vietnam, accounting for a third of the country's total export turnover. In the first 11 months of 2022, phones and components have the highest export value at $55.4 billion, a 6.6% increase from the same period last year, according to the General Statistics Office.

The Intel Products Vietnam (IPV) factory in Vietnam remained stable operation throughout the global semiconductor crisis. In June, military-run Viettel proposed to produce its own chips, while FPT Semiconductor released its first chip line to be used in IoT products in the field of healthcare in September.

Steve Long, Intel General Manager of Asia Pacific and Japan, said Vietnam is capable of establishing the infrastructure and policies necessary to support chip production activities thanks to its political stability, cheap and talented labor and freer trade and investment policies.