If Vietnam really "lost" to Poland in the race for an Intel chip factory as many people thought, why did Intel continue to pour billions of dollars into Vietnam while the project in Poland was completely canceled?
On June 12, 2026, Intel Products Vietnam Co., Ltd. held a celebration of its 20th anniversary in Ho Chi Minh City. At this event, Intel announced an increase in its total investment commitment in Vietnam to 4.1 billion USD, equivalent to an additional approximately 2.6 billion USD compared to the previous scale.
This information immediately attracted attention because just over two years ago, the market was shocked when Reuters reported that Intel abandoned its plan to expand large-scale investment in Vietnam.
Intel's Investment Picture in Vietnam and Poland
Value Events
Proposed chip project in Vietnam worth 3.3 billion USD
Recommended Intel support level is 15% of investment capital
Intel project in Poland worth 4.6 billion USD
Polish state support 1.9 billion USD
Direct employment is expected to be 2,000 workers
Intel investment commitment in Vietnam 2026 is 4.1 billion USD
Converted at an exchange rate of about 26.000 VND/USD
Item Value VND
3.3 billion USD, about 85,800 billion VND
4.1 billion USD, about 106,600 billion VND
4.6 billion USD, about 119,600 billion VND
1.9 billion USD to support Poland about 49,400 billion VND
Reuters Once Reported Shocking News
In November 2023, Reuters quoted a source saying that Intel stopped its plan to expand billions of dollars in investment in Vietnam.
This information quickly created a major wave of debate in the business community and investors. Reasons mentioned include the risk of power shortages and lengthy administrative procedures.
However, by June 2024, documents from the Ministry of Planning and Investment showed that the story was much more complicated.
According to this document, Intel has proposed a chip manufacturing project worth 3.3 billion USD in Vietnam. In return, businesses expect to receive cash support equivalent to about 15% of total investment capital.
After the work process, the project was redirected to Poland.
Poland Was Considered the Winner
In June 2024, Intel officially announced a project to build a chip assembly and testing facility in an area near the city of Wrocław, Poland.
The project has a total investment of 4.6 billion USD.
The Polish government approved a support package of about 1.9 billion USD and was later confirmed by the European Commission to comply with regulations.At that time, many opinions said that Poland had won over Vietnam in the competition to attract semiconductor investment.
Sudden Reversal
The situation changed quickly when Intel began to experience financial difficulties.
In the second quarter of 2024, Intel reported a loss of 1.6 billion USD and announced plans to cut about 15,000 employees globally.
In September 2024, CEO Pat Gelsinger announced the postponement of projects in Germany and Poland for at least two years.
By July 2025, new CEO Lip-Bu Tan made a more decisive decision.
Intel confirmed the complete cancellation of planned projects in Germany and Poland.
The second quarter 2025 business results report clearly states that Intel will not continue projects in these two countries.
What Has Vietnam Changed?
While the Polish project stagnated, Vietnam implemented a series of new policies to adapt to the global minimum tax.
On January 1, 2024, Vietnam applies the QDMTT Global Minimum Tax mechanism.
This makes traditional tax incentives no longer as effective competitive tools as before.
To replace it, in December 2024, the Government issued Decree 182 to establish the Investment Support Fund.
Level of Support from Investment Support Fund
Category Support level
Human resource training Maximum 50%
R&D research and development 20% to 30%
Invest in fixed assets 8% to 10%
Semiconductor manufacturing Maximum 3%
Social infrastructure Maximum 25%
In 2025, the fund is allocated about 10,000 billion VND.
However, the Ministry of Finance said that the need for support from large businesses is much higher than the available resources.
What Intel Wants
During the process of commenting on amendments to Decree 182, Intel proposed maintaining a separate support mechanism for the semiconductor sector.
According to Intel, chip manufacturing, packaging and testing businesses should enjoy special policies similar to previous regulations.
Intel proposed that the level of support for the semiconductor industry should be equivalent to that of a strategic industrial enterprise group.
The Ministry of Finance said it has absorbed and added content related to high-tech enterprises as well as high-tech application projects in the new draft.
The Most Noteworthy Thing
The Intel story shows that the competition to attract the global semiconductor industry is no longer just about tax incentives.
Stable power supply, industrial ecosystem, supply chain, technical human resources and procedural processing speed are becoming decisive factors.
The fact that Intel increased its total investment commitment to 4.1 billion USD right after canceling the project in Poland shows that Vietnam is still playing a very important role.important in this group's global production strategy.
From a country once thought to have "lost" a billion-dollar project, Vietnam is now where Intel continues to expand its investment commitment. Is this a signal that Vietnam is gradually becoming the new semiconductor center of Southeast Asia?
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