Vietnam backtracks after touting $3.3 billion Intel investment

Vietnam’s commercial hub Ho Chi Minh City announced an effort to court a $3.3 billion investment from Intel Corp., only to amend much of its original statement to remove mentions of the US chipmaker.

The government on late Tuesday posted a notice about how it was courting that mega-investment from Intel, which could boost the city’s 2023 foreign direct investment to $7.4 billion. Late Wednesday morning, it revised that statement to strike Intel’s name and reduced that projected total to as much as $4.5 billion.

Like governments around the region, Vietnam has aggressively sought to pull in capital from foreign tech giants, particularly as the country is emerging as a viable alternative to China in the manufacture of everything from gadgets to basic semiconductor.

Intel did recently meet with government officials about plans to make an additional investment for at least $3.3 billion at its existing facility in the city’s Saigon Hi-Tech Park, according to a person familiar with the discussions.

“Vietnam is an important part of our global manufacturing network, but we have not announced any new investments,” Intel said in a statement. 

Vietnam has become a major manufacturing hub as companies with large production bases in China seek to diversify supply chains amid growing tensions between Washington and Beijing and Covid-era disruptions. The Southeast Asian country has attracted the likes of Apple Inc. suppliers and Samsung Electronics Co. 

Intel operates a chip assembly and test manufacturing facility in the city. The company invested $475 million in Intel Products Vietnam in 2021, bringing its total investment in the country to $1.5 billion.