Vietnam is in talks with chip companies to build its first chipmaking plant or fab. This is despite warnings from U.S. industry officials about the high costs involved. Vietnam is already home to Intel's largest semiconductor packaging and testing plant worldwide, and it is hoping to attract more investment in the sector.

• Vietnam is in talks with US chip firms, including GlobalFoundries and PSMC.
• The aim is to build Vietnam's first fab, most likely for less advanced chips used in cars or telecoms applications.
• The Vietnamese government has said it wants its first fab by the end of this decade and is offering "the highest incentives available in Vietnam" to attract chip companies.

The meetings between Vietnam and US chip firms took place in recent weeks and are still at a preliminary stage. Industry officials say that the meetings are mostly to test interest and discuss potential incentives and subsidies.

The Vietnamese government has said that it wants its first fab by the end of the decade and is offering "the highest incentives available in Vietnam" to attract chip companies. These incentives could include things like subsidies on power supplies, infrastructure, and the availability of a trained workforce.

However, some industry experts have warned that Vietnam may be better off focusing on chip sectors where it is already strong, such as assembling, packaging, and testing. They say that building a foundry could cost as much as $50 billion and would entail competing on subsidies with other countries that have already announced spending plans on chips.

It remains to be seen whether Vietnam will be successful in its bid to attract chip companies to build a fab in the country. However, the talks are a sign of Vietnam's ambition to become a major player in the global semiconductor industry.