HANOI — The northern Vietnamese province of Bac Ninh plans to move up the semiconductor supply chain by upgrading infrastructure, expanding its skilled labour pool, and adjusting investment policy to attract chip design, research and development (R&D), and core technology operations.

The provincial Department of Science and Technology puts the province's current semiconductor investment base at US$2.74bil across 33 projects. That portfolio breaks down into six projects directly involved in semiconductors and semiconductor materials, and 27 producing equipment and components for the sector.

The single largest commitment comes from Amkor Technology Vietnam, which has invested US$1.6bil in the Yen Phong 2-C Industrial Park. The facility now employs more than 2,000 people, making it the anchor operation in Bac Ninh's chip-related manufacturing cluster.

The figures give Bac Ninh one of the more concentrated semiconductor manufacturing footprints in northern Vietnam, but the province's current position remains weighted toward packaging, equipment and component production rather than higher-value segments such as design and R&D. The new policy push targets precisely that gap.

Bac Ninh's strategy rests on three tracks: infrastructure improvements, workforce development to build skilled labour capacity, and policy instruments designed to make the province competitive for investment in chip design, R&D and core technology. The provincial Department of Science and Technology did not disclose specific targets or timelines for the programme.

The province's effort aligns with Vietnam's broader push to capture more value from the global semiconductor supply chain, as assembly and packaging operations — the segment where Bac Ninh is currently strongest — typically sit lower in the value chain than design, IP development and advanced materials.

Amkor's US$1.6bil facility illustrates the scale of what Bac Ninh has already achieved in manufacturing. The remaining 32 projects, split between semiconductor materials production on one side and equipment and component manufacturing on the other, account for roughly US$1.14bil of the total committed investment.

Whether Bac Ninh can convert that manufacturing base into design and R&D activity will depend on the skilled labour capacity the province manages to build, since chip design and core technology work require engineering talent at a level Vietnam has only begun to develop. Infrastructure upgrades and investment incentives alone rarely move multinational R&D operations without a credible talent pipeline.

The province has not yet announced which specific companies or project types it is targeting under the new framework.