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Prime Minister holds talks with visiting Singaporean counterpart
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| Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his Singaporean counterpart Lawrence Wong hold talks in Hanoi on March 26. (Photo: VNA) |
Hanoi – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his Singaporean counterpart Lawrence Wong held talks in Hanoi on March 26, agreeing on decisive and timely measures for enhancing political trust and creating new breakthroughs for the two countries’ comprehensive strategic partnership.
The Vietnamese Government leader highlighted the significance of his guest’s official visit, saying that this is the first high-level trip since the two countries upgraded their relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership during Vietnamese Party General Secretary To Lam’s official visit to Singapore.
It is also a highlight for 2025, which marks the 80th anniversary of Vietnam’s National Day and the 60th anniversary of Singapore’s, sending a strong message about the two countries’ determination to realise the new cooperation framework, he said.
The host congratulated Singapore on its development achievements and wished the country success in organising its general election in 2025. He expressed his belief that the city state will successfully implement the Forward Singapore (Forward SG) and “Singapore Dream” initiatives, thus building a fair, harmonious, and increasingly prosperous society.
Chinh said that Vietnam is implementing a strategy of speeding-up and making breakthroughs to reach the finish line, striving to achieve double-digit growth from 2026 onwards, towards entering a new era – that of the nation’s rise and prosperous, civilised, and thriving development.
For his part, Wong expressed his delight at his first visit to Vietnam as the PM of Singapore, stressing that his trip aims to promote the implementation of cooperation outcomes between the two countries.
He affirmed that Vietnam is one of Singapore’s most important partners in the region, and congratulated Vietnam on its remarkable achievements after 40 years of the “Doi moi” (renewal) process to become one of the leading economies in ASEAN.
The Singaporean PM emphasised the historic significance of the establishment of the comprehensive strategic partnership, stating that Vietnam being Singapore’s first comprehensive strategic partner in ASEAN reflects the trust, close-knit ties, and aspirations of both countries’ leaders and peoples to develop the Vietnam – Singapore relations more extensively, intensively, and effectively.
Both leaders expressed their satisfaction with the robust development of the bilateral relations. Singapore has maintained its position as the second-largest foreign investor in Vietnam, with two new Vietnam – Singapore Industrial Parks (VSIPs) getting investment approval, expanding their network to 20 facilities across 14 cities and provinces. The bilateral trade volume demonstrated steady growth, reaching 10.3 billion USD in 2024, with Vietnam emerging as Singapore’s largest rice exporter.
The PMs also acknowledged considerable advancements in defence, security, education, technology, tourism, labour, and people-to-people exchanges.
They committed to decisive and timely measures to bolster political trust, creating breakthroughs for the comprehensive strategic partnership. They aim to swiftly complete and effectively carry out an action programme, bringing in full play their new cooperation framework for 2025-2030.
The two sides concurred to enhance the exchange of delegations at all levels, effectively implement bilateral cooperation mechanisms, and reinforce defence and security collaboration on the basis of mutual confidence and understanding, contributing to peace, stability, and development in the region and the world.
They pledged to enhance economic connectivity through five key pillars of the Vietnam – Singapore Connectivity Framework Agreement and the Green Economy-Digital Economy Partnership, positioning the bilateral cooperation as the regional exemplar.
Chinh proposed Singapore to create favourable conditions for Vietnamese agro-forestry-fishery products and processed food to hit the shelves of its distribution system. Besides, he suggested developing the VSIP 2.0 network with a focus on sustainability and smart technologies to optimise high-quality investment attraction.
His Singaporean counterpart agreed to clarify key aspects of upgrading the VSIP network, ensuring greener and more intelligent and efficient development. He also endorsed the Vietnamese leader’s “six major goals” proposal, which encompasses deeper political trust, more substantive defence cooperation, more effective economic connectivity, stronger people-to-people exchanges, more breakthrough science-technology collaboration, and closer international regional cooperation.
Wong highlighted the need for substantive development in offshore wind energy export, carbon credit exchange, and fintech collaboration through the cross-border retail payment connection project using QR codes and data transmission, helping facilitate enterprises’ business operation.
The two leaders agreed to deepen cooperation in key areas, including education, workforce training, food security, cultural and art exchanges, tourism, and aviation, business-to-business and people-to-people connectivity.
PM Chinh proposed that Singapore receive Vietnamese workers under its labour visa scheme, expand the range of accepted professions, facilitate Vietnamese language education in schools with a significant number of Vietnamese students, and help promote the role of the Vietnamese expat community there.
On regional and multilateral cooperation, both host and guest commended their nations’ close coordination and mutual support in their candidacies for posts within UN organisations. They agreed to work with other ASEAN member states to maintain the bloc’s solidarity, unity, and centrality, as well as to advance sustainable development in subregions, including the Mekong subregion.
The two PMs agreed to maintain the shared stance of ASEAN on the East Sea, underscoring the importance of maritime and aviation freedom and safety. They said there is a need to fully and effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and foster an environment conducive to the development of a substantive and effective Code of Conduct in the waters (COC) in line with international law and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Following their talks, the Vietnamese and Singaporean leaders witnessed the signing of several cooperation agreements, including a letter of intent on developing an action programme for the countries’ Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Other pacts cover offshore wind power trade, cross-border QR code payments, digital development and innovation, and people-to-people exchange.
The Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association (HoREA) has proposed a pilot mechanism that would allow businesses to invest in and construct worker housing within industrial parks.
In a document submitted to the Prime Minister, contributing feedback on a draft pilot policy aimed at boosting social housing development, HoREA suggested that businesses, cooperatives, and cooperative unions operating within industrial parks be permitted to build accommodation for their workers. It also called for allowing companies to rent housing outside industrial parks for the same purpose.
HoREA emphasized that all costs related to building or renting worker housing should be recognized as legitimate business expenses and be included in the enterprise’s operating costs.
The association further recommended expanding the policy framework to allow companies within industrial parks to lease social housing or worker accommodation built by third-party developers outside the park premises.
According to Mr. Lê Hoàng Châu, Chairman of HoREA, the current Housing Law (2023) only allows companies to rent worker housing inside industrial parks, without clearly defining whether they can rent social housing outside the parks or construct such housing themselves.
With worker housing demand at industrial parks far exceeding supply, HoREA pointed out that current social housing and dormitory offerings are inadequate. Meanwhile, commercial housing remains out of reach for most workers due to high prices. Therefore, the association urges the government to introduce policies enabling manufacturing businesses—despite not operating in real estate—to develop their own accommodation solutions for employees.
HoREA underscored that such policies would create a strong legal foundation, empowering enterprises and cooperatives to proactively resolve housing issues for workers. If allowed to construct their own housing, companies could ensure homes go to those in need, boosting employee retention, improving living standards, and supporting sustainable growth in industrial zones.
The association also proposed financial support mechanisms, including tax incentives, access to preferential loans, or government-matching support, to reduce the financial burden on companies participating in worker housing development.
Previously, many businesses had expressed a desire to buy land, build housing, and offer installment-based homeownership plans to workers, whereby employees would pay monthly through salary deductions. While this model helps workers secure long-term housing, legal procedures remain a major hurdle.
Providing accommodation has increasingly become part of corporate strategies to retain labor, alongside other employee welfare policies. For example, Nissei Electric Vietnam (Linh Trung 1 Export Processing Zone, Thu Duc City) has built a dormitory complex with 285 shared rooms, housing up to 2,280 workers. Eternal Prowess Vietnam (District 12) and Thien Phat Company (Linh Trung 2 EPZ) have also invested in on-site worker housing. Thien Phat’s project includes 368 units (35m² each), rented at VND 2.2 million/month, with 80% of the units for families and 20% for shared accommodations.
As of Q2 2024, Ho Chi Minh City has 18 industrial parks with around 1,700 businesses employing approximately 320,000 workers. Citywide, over 1.3 million people are employed in factories. However, there are only 16 official worker housing complexes, accommodating about 22,000 people. The majority of workers rely on rented rooms or stay with acquaintances—often sharing 12m² rooms among 2–3 people, which consumes 15–20% of their monthly income.
From 2021 to the present, Ho Chi Minh City has completed six social housing projects with 2,700 units and is building four more with 3,000 units. By April 30, the city aims to resolve legal hurdles and break ground on 5–6 additional social housing projects, totaling around 8,000 units.
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According to Statista Market Insights, the Vietnamese semiconductor market is forecast to see healthy growth with a compound annual growth rate of 9.62 per cent between 2024 and 2027, reaching a market volume of $26.20 billion.
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| Le Quan, Senior lecturer Faculty of Engineering Fulbright University Vietnam |
Vietnam also boasts over 30 foreign-led companies in integrated circuit (IC) design, including established players like Renesas, Synopsys, and Cadence alongside innovative startups like Ampere, ADTechnology, Inphi, FingerVina, Dolphin Technology. The sector also encompasses numerous smaller firms with around 100 or fewer employees.
By 2040, Vietnam is poised to become a crucial player in the global semiconductor ecosystem, encompassing all aspects of the industry, from design and manufacturing to assembly, test, and packaging (ATP) and equipment fabrication.
The strategy emphasises the importance of fostering a skilled workforce. Vietnam boasts a strong talent pool in the semiconductor industry, with 50,000 design engineers, 200,000 electronics engineers, 500,000 technical workers, and one million software engineers. To further enhance this workforce, the strategy aims to transition up to 30,000 personnel from the existing pool of 350,000 IT and telecommunications engineers.
The global semiconductor packaging landscape is undergoing a rapid transformation, driven by a surge in new facilities across Asia. The wave of semiconductor investment in Vietnam and the industry’s demand for personnel have driven educational institutions, from top universities to vocational colleges, to launch training programmes related to semiconductors.
Last year, major universities such as Hanoi University of Science and Technology, University of IT – Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh, and the University of Engineering and Technology announced engineering programmes specialising in semiconductors. Younger universities like FPT and Phenikaa are also making significant investments in this area, not only in training initiatives but also in facilities and equipment.
However, to truly understand the current landscape of semiconductor training in Vietnam, it is essential to look at the regulations and current state of training schemes in this field from 2024 backward.
Firstly, the high costs associated with establishing chip fabrication facilities make it an impractical investment for Vietnam. The country’s resources would be better allocated towards sectors that promise more immediate returns, such as ATP and IC design. Advanced packaging technologies represent a feasible and profitable entry point in the global semiconductor value chain, aligning with Vietnam’s strengths in low-cost, adaptable labour.
Vietnam should focus on drawing overseas funding into ATP operations, leveraging its lower labour costs to attract foreign companies. The availability of a high-quality but affordable workforce makes Vietnam an attractive destination for packaging, testing, and assembly processes. Prioritising such investment with advanced packaging capabilities will allow Vietnam to build a competitive advantage in this sector.
Meanwhile, the IC design segment represents a high-value opportunity with significant global demand. To capitalise on this, Vietnam should proactively seek partnerships and outsourced projects from international IC design firms. Engaging Vietnamese firms in IC design outsourcing allows for skill transfer, builds local capacity, and positions Vietnam as a reliable partner in the global semiconductor value chain.
Collaboration between industry, educators, and government should be boosted. Building a cohesive semiconductor workforce will require closer partnerships between educational institutions, industry players, and the government.
By integrating real-world projects into academic programmes, Vietnamese graduates will better understand the industry’s practical requirements and be more prepared to transition directly into the workforce. Schemes that bring industry projects to academia will provide students with hands-on experience, making them job-ready upon graduation.
At the same time, establishing specialised training for semiconductor roles, particularly in ATP and IC design, will be essential to reduce the industry’s current reliance on costly in-house training. This should involve upskilling engineers from related fields through short, intensive courses designed to meet industry standards.
Partnerships with international organisations for curriculum development, as well as accreditation for training initiatives, will help elevate Vietnam’s semiconductor workforce to global standards.
Vietnam can also implement “train-the-trainer” programmes. Its academic institutions face a shortage of faculty members with practical experience in semiconductor technologies. By leveraging international partnerships, Vietnam can upskill its instructors, who can then transfer these skills to future generations of engineers.
Notably, several US institutions have expressed willingness to offer training to Vietnamese trainers, a vital step towards creating a sustainable, locally driven semiconductor education ecosystem.
Finally, effective workforce development in the semiconductor industry requires government involvement in fostering a supportive ecosystem. Policies that incentivise partnerships between academia and industry, such as funding for research and development and joint training programmes, are critical.
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