Local know-how a must to entice FIEs

Vietnam’s challenge in attracting global manufacturers is ensuring domestic enterprises become capable and trusted partners within multinational supply chains.

- By Nguyen Huong

At a time when Vietnam is strengthening linkage between foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) and local vendors, the partnership between Intel Products Vietnam and local supplier Saigon Fabrication (Fab-9) is emerging as a notable example of how foreign-invested and domestic firms can grow together.

At the Vietnam Connect Forum 2026 last week, Kenneth Tse, vice president and general manager of Intel Products Vietnam, described Fab-9 as one of Intel’s most successful local supplier partnerships globally.

“To give you kind of the scale of the relationship, Intel has hundreds of thousands of suppliers,” Tse said. “Every year, we recognise only a handful that really demonstrate the right support, agility, quality and customer service. Fab-9 this year was actually one of the recipients of the EPIC Supplier Award.”

The award, given to only around a dozen companies worldwide, reflects the growing role of Vietnamese suppliers within global semiconductor supply chains.

The first projects Intel assigned to Fab-9 involved highly sensitive electronic products requiring strict intellectual property protections, specialised tools, and advanced technical standards. “What really impressed us was their technical expertise, their willingness to partner, and the ability to say ‘yes’ first and go figure out how to get it done later,” Tse said.