Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has urged four State-owned telecom companies to take the lead in semiconductor chip research, development, and production, the Government News has reported.

They include Viettel, VNPT, MobiFone, and Gtel Mobile.

The request was outlined in Directive No. 7 issued recently by the PM on renewing administration, improving production and trade efficiency, and promoting development investment in State-owned enterprises, in which the government leader noted that Vietnam holds a great deal of potential in developing semiconductor chip technology.

Its chip market has posted annual growth of 6.12 per cent in recent years, and its market scale is expected to reach some $1.66 billion by 2027.

Vietnam has attracted major attention from investors and become a destination for researching, developing, and producing semiconductor chips. The country holds advantages in natural conditions and is one of only a few countries in the world with rare earth reserves, which is a key raw material in semiconductor chip production.