In June 2024, Vietnam enacted the Capital Law, prioritizing semiconductor investment in Hanoi and offering various incentives from the city government.
This legislative move, coupled with Hanoi's strong economic performance—attracting nearly US$ 1.17 billion in foreign investment in the first half of 2024—has bolstered the city's ambition to become a semiconductor hub. Despite holding a smaller share of Vietnam's semiconductor industry in terms of the number of enterprises and workforce, Hanoi is home to major design firms like Qorvo, CoAsia, and Toshiba.
In contrast, international companies such as Intel, Renesas, and Marvell are headquartered in Ho Chi Minh City, which hosts 85% of Vietnam's 5,000 chip design engineers. Hanoi and Danang have 8% and 7% of the workforce, respectively, according to Vietnam Investment Review.
Hanoi under spotlight
The Hanoi Semiconductor Investment Festival, held from July 29-31, highlighted the city's growing appeal to international semiconductor giants from the US, South Korea, Japan, and Europe.
The event was co-organized by the Hanoi Center for Investment, Trade, and Tourism Promotion; Vietnam Software and IT Services Association (VINASA); Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park Management Board; Hanoi University of Science and Technology; and the Hanoi Department of Information and Communications.
Speaking to the Vietnam News Agency (VNA), Nguyen Tran Quang, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Center for Investment, Trade, and Tourism Promotion, emphasized the crucial role semiconductors play in Vietnam's digital economy development and in attracting foreign interest.
Echoing this sentiment, Nguyen Viet Hung, the top official of the Hanoi Department of Information and Communications, stated that Hanoi aspires to be a regional leader in semiconductor and AI design and supply. The city has introduced a range of investor incentives, including exemptions from land and water surface leasing fees, favorable corporate and personal income tax rates, and waivers of certain prequalification, bidding, and contracting capability assessments for city contracts.
The festival featured three seminars and a semiconductor technology exhibition at the Hanoi University of Science and Technology, spanning an area of 2,000-2,500 square meters with approximately 60 booths.
Hanoi's design background
In early 2023, Samsung Electronics opened an R&D center in Hanoi's Tay Ho District, employing about 3,000 engineers primarily focused on 5G hardware and software, smart devices, and software development.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics Vietnam (SEMV) initially planned to begin mass production of FCBGA substrates by the end of 2023 but has delayed this to the fourth quarter of 2024.
Additionally, Toshiba operates a small IC design and software development center in Hanoi, focusing on automotive digital LSI, analog IC, and microcontroller unit (MCU) products, with other ICs as primary exports.
