Shares of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) inches down in pre trading session on Wednesday as the Vietnam government’s official portal was updated to remove a reference to the country’s commercial hub of Ho Chi Minh City attempting to attract $3.3 billion in additional investment from US chip giant Intel Corp.
In response to the initial post and reports on the investment, Intel issued a statement saying, “Vietnam is an important part of our global manufacturing network, but we have not announced any new investments.”
Intel has its largest chip packaging and testing factory in the world in Ho Chi Minh City, in the country’s south, where it is estimated that it has invested around $1.5 billion.
According to Pham Tuan Anh, an official in the city’s planning and investment department, “if successful in attracting $3.3 billion of additional investment from Intel Products Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City would receive $7.4 billion in foreign direct investment this year.”
This was later amended to remove the reference to Intel and to lower the forecast for foreign investment in Ho Chi Minh City this year to a range of $4.1-4.5 billion, down from $3.9 billion in 2022. Pham could not be reached for comment immediately, and officials from the city’s planning and investment department declined to comment.
According to a person familiar with the discussions, Intel recently met with government officials about plans to invest at least $3.3 billion in its existing facility in the city’s Saigon Hi-Tech Park. “Vietnam is an important part of our global manufacturing network, but no new investments have been announced,” Intel said in a statement.
Vietnam has emerged as a major manufacturing hub as companies with large Chinese manufacturing bases seek to diversify supply chains in the face of rising tensions between Washington and Beijing and Covid-era disruptions. Suppliers to Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. have visited the Southeast Asian country.
In the city, Intel has a chip assembly and test manufacturing facility. Intel Products Vietnam received $475 million in investment in 2021, bringing the company’s total investment in the country to $1.5 billion.
