Vietnam tasks Viettel with developing domestic chip industry

Vietnam has tasked military-run telecom company Viettel with developing a domestic semiconductor industry, according to a recent directive from Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh reported by Reuters. The move shifts the state-owned company's role beyond telecommunications toward chip design and fabrication, alongside Vietnam's existing electronics-assembly, packaging and testing activity. The source does not identify a project timetable, funding level or specific fabrication plan. It says the effort will test whether state-owned enterprises can carry out industrial policy without crowding out private-sector participation.