ASML signals long-term commitment to Vietnam

ASML signals long-term commitment to Vietnam

Vietnam’s finance minister has welcomed stronger engagement from ASML, as the Dutch semiconductor equipment giant explores deeper, long-term cooperation in the country.

Minister of Finance Nguyen Van Thang

On January 15, Minister of Finance Nguyen Van Thang held a working session with Eduard Stiphout, senior vice president in charge of strategic supply and procurement at ASML Group of the Netherlands, with Kees van Baar, Ambassador of the Netherlands to Vietnam, also in attendance.

At the meeting, Minister Thang highly appreciated ASML’s interest in the Vietnamese market, noting that the group’s decision to send senior executives to Vietnam and its active participation in SEMIExpo Vietnam 2025 demonstrated a clear commitment to long-term strategic cooperation and reflected growing confidence in Vietnam’s investment environment and policy framework for high-tech industries.

Thang reaffirmed the government’s strong commitment to attracting semiconductor investment as Vietnam pursues ambitious economic growth targets in the coming period. He said the country is steadily advancing strategic policies on institutions, human resources, and related areas to support the long-term development of the semiconductor industry.

In this context, the minister proposed that ASML coordinate with the Embassy of the Netherlands, the National Innovation Centre (NIC) and relevant partners to develop a comprehensive roadmap, appropriate financial mechanisms and public-private resource mobilisation models, with the aim of soon establishing a Semiconductor Training, Research and Development Centre at the NIC’s Hoa Lac campus.

“Moreover, ASML should support the connection of qualified Vietnamese enterprises to participate more deeply in ASML’s global supply chain, thereby diversifying and enhancing the resilience of ASML’s supply chain in Asia,” Minister Thang said.

“ASML should support Vietnamese companies in developing manufacturing, research and testing infrastructure, known as fablabs, and semiconductor technical services; providing consultancy on technology standards and transferring management experience to gradually build domestic manufacturing capabilities. These efforts would contribute to the formation and development of Vietnam’s first chip manufacturing plant,” the minister added.

He also called for the implementation of training programmes, expert exchanges, internships and scholarship support in the semiconductor field. Such activities would help build a contingent of Vietnamese engineers and specialists capable of meeting the high technological standards and stringent technical requirements of ASML and the global semiconductor equipment industry.

“The Ministry of Finance is committed to providing the highest level of support, assigning the NIC as the focal point to coordinate with relevant agencies and units to continue working closely with ASML,” the minister said.

The aim is to promptly address any difficulties, create a stable, transparent and favourable legal environment, and ensure the effective and timely implementation of ASML’s cooperation initiatives, thereby making a tangible contribution to the development of Vietnam’s innovation ecosystem and high-tech industry.

Eduard Stiphout, senior vice president in charge of Strategic Supply and Procurement at ASML Group

On behalf of the ASML delegation, Eduard Stiphout thanked Minister Thang and leaders of units under the Ministry of Finance for sharing highly valuable information. He noted that ASML has been actively engaging and working with the NIC (under the Ministry of Finance) to explore cooperation opportunities in the semiconductor industry, human resource training and the development of a high-tech ecosystem.

“Based on initial discussions, ASML is studying the possibility of expanding its supply chain in Vietnam, cooperating to establish a semiconductor training, research and development (R&D) centre at the NIC with support from the Dutch government, and considering the establishment of an official presence in Vietnam in the near future,” Stiphout said.

“ASML is assessing the potential to supply equipment to prospective customers in Vietnam,” he added.

ASML is one of the world’s leading semiconductor corporation and holds a dominant position in the market thanks to its ownership of extreme ultraviolet lithography technology. This core technology is decisive for the production of advanced generations of chips serving AI, 5G and high-performance computing.

With a market capitalisation among the highest in the semiconductor industry (approximately $400 billion), annual revenues of around $30-35 billion, and more than 40,000 employees across 60 facilities worldwide, ASML plays a central role in the global semiconductor value chain, directly shaping the development roadmaps of leading corporations such as TSMC, Samsung and Intel.

VIR