Foreign companies are expanding their chip testing and packaging capabilities in Vietnam. According to Reuters, due to strained relations between the West and China, chip-related industrial activity is gathering pace to move away from China.
The semiconductor manufacturing sector is currently dominated by China and Taiwan, although Vietnam is among the fastest-growing countries.
Hana Micron’s vice president in Vietnam, Cho Hyung Rae, told Reuters the company was expanded to the country to meet demand from customers looking to outsource some of their production from China.
The South Korean company plans to invest $903.49 million in its memory chip packaging operations in Vietnam. Last year, US-based Amkor Technology unveiled a $1.6 billion plan to build a state-of-the-art semiconductor manufacturing facility.
The Biden administration has encouraged the growth of Vietnam’s capacity in the “back-end” segment of chip manufacturing amid strained trade relations between Washington and Beijing. In July 2023, Biden’s Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen visited Hanoi to meet with Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chinh and discuss deepening US-Vietnam trade and economic relations; She made a direct reference to Vietnam’s critical role in the semiconductor industry and named American semiconductor manufacturing companies that have branches in Vietnam. Arizona-based Amkor Technology was among the companies mentioned.
According to the U.S. Semiconductor Industry Association and the Boston Consulting Group, Vietnam’s share of the global chip assembly, testing, and packaging industry will be 8-9% by 2032 due to large investments by foreign companies. This figure was 1% in 2022.
Source: Reuters
