Vietnam’s military-backed tech conglomerate and telco Viettel has broken ground on a semiconductor plant located in Hanoi.

Located at Hoa Lac High Tech Park in western Hanoi, the facility will span 27 hectares and will conduct semiconductor research, design, testing, and – most important of all – production, according to a government release.

Viettel chairman and CEO Tao Duc Thang said that the facility is set to finish construction and begin trial production by the end of 2027. From 2028-2030, Viettel will “focus on optimizing processes and improving production efficiency to international standards.”

This is part of the country’s attempts to move up the semiconductor manufacturing chain. Like its regional competitor Malaysia, Vietnam is currently a hub for a variety of semiconductor manufacturing processes, including packaging and testing.

But according to the government, “chip fabrication – the most complex and critical step – has so far remained beyond domestic reach. The new facility is expected to complete the entire production chain.”

Onshoring semiconductor manufacturing is a long-term ambition of the Vietnamese government. The government intends to train 50,000 chip design engineers by 2030 and to build a semiconductor workforce of 100,000 by 2040.

“[The chip plant] creates a foundation for Viet Nam to integrate more deeply into the global value chain through science, technology, and innovation,” said prime minister Pham Minh Chinh.

Viettel was founded in the late 1980s as a construction firm. Operated by the Vietnamese Ministry of Defence, it has since become a telco, tech manufacturer, and a data center operator.