FPT and SBI Holdings Sign MoU on Vietnam Chip Packaging Plant

FPT and SBI Holdings have signed a memorandum of understanding that could see the Japanese financial group invest in a memory chip packaging and testing plant in Vietnam.

FPT announced the deal in a statement on Wednesday. The signing took place in Tokyo, during the official visit to Japan of General Secretary-State President To Lam. Under the MoU, the two companies will hold discussions and study options for investment cooperation at FPT's planned factory in Hanoi, with SBI considering taking part as an investor.

The structure is straightforward. FPT would run the project through its subsidiary FPT IS. SBI would weigh an equity role as the plant takes shape. No investment amount, stake size or timeline was disclosed in the statement.

What would the plant actually do?

The facility would offer services to companies across the semiconductor supply chain. FPT said it would gradually add manufacturing and engineering service facilities in Vietnam.

FPT frames packaging and testing as demanding work. The company says these stages require strong engineering capability, rigorous quality management, and close coordination among supply-chain companies. That is the technical case for building the capability at home rather than importing it.

The MoU is not the first tie between the two groups. In December 2024, FPT and SBI signed a memorandum under which SBI would invest up to 35 percent of FPT Smart Cloud Japan. The chip plant agreement extends a relationship that already spans cloud computing into hardware-linked services.

What else did FPT bring to Tokyo?

On the same day, FPT presented five proposals for Vietnam–Japan cooperation at the Vietnam–Japan Public–Private Forum on Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation in Tokyo. The five pillars are:

• Sovereign and trusted AI infrastructure linking AI factories and data across both countries
• AI transformation across enterprises and supply chains in automotive, electronics, logistics and energy
• Training AI and quantum engineers
• A Vietnam–Japan co-creation fund for joint technology innovation
• Closer cooperation in quantum technology

FPT Chairman Truong Gia Binh said the proposals can process via cooperation between the two governments, universities, and technology companies. The framing positions FPT as an architect of state-level technology ties, not just a contractor chasing deals.

Two more agreements signed

FPT also signed two further agreements alongside the MoU. The Vietnam Low-Altitude Economy Alliance, led by FPT, signed with the Kaga National Strategic Special Zone Promotion Association to explore industrial clusters and manufacturing in Kaga City. FPT separately signed with NTT e-Drone Technology on drone research, market studies and proof-of-concept projects in both countries.

The drone deal gives FPT a testing path into a market where Japan is drafting rules for low-altitude flight, while the Kaga arrangement ties the alliance to a designated national strategic zone.

The Hanoi project also has momentum of its own. FPT has already started trial operations at a chip testing and packaging plant, according to a prior report, which means the SBI discussions concern a facility moving from pilot toward scaled service delivery rather than a greenfield concept on paper.

If SBI commits capital, Vietnam gains a Japanese anchor investor in a segment of the chip value chain that sits closer to manufacturing than design, and FPT gains funding plus credibility as it pushes its five-pillar agenda with Tokyo.