Ho Chi Minh City has just issued a Strategy for Microchip Development to 2030, in which Ho Chi Minh City High-Tech Park (SHTP) is oriented to become a research and development center for the national semiconductor microchip industry, with a strong semiconductor microchip ecosystem.
It has been 12 years since the "incubation" of the Microchip Industry Development Program for the period 2013-2020, with a vision to 2030 (adjusted and supplemented in 2017) to Resolution 98/2023/QH15 on piloting a number of specific mechanisms and policies for the development of Ho Chi Minh City, clearly stating that priority industries to attract strategic investment in the new period will include: "Investment in projects in the field of semiconductor integrated circuit industry, design technology, manufacturing of components, integrated electronic microchips, flexible electronics, chips... with an investment capital scale of VND 30,000 billion or more".
Research on microchip production at Ho Chi Minh City High-Tech Park. Photo: HOANG HUNG
In a submission to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee in August 2023, the SHTP Management Board emphasized: To develop industries with fundamental characteristics such as electronics and semiconductors, with a focus on developing domestic enterprises, focusing on stages with high added value such as research - development, design, training and developing human resources with expertise, the ability to apply and innovate technology is very important.
Thus, the development of microchips must be at the national level with pioneering steps or in the form of a "national laboratory" in the South located in SHTP, as Ho Chi Minh City has been pursuing. Thereby, it will play an intermediary role connecting and promoting the strengths of the state, schools, and businesses in implementing training programs in the field of electronics and semiconductor microchips. With the national strategic orientation in general and the industrial development strategy of Ho Chi Minh City in particular, the institutional framework is gradually being perfected, and priority policies for the development of the semiconductor microchip electronics industry are being strongly promoted. The early establishment of concentrated high-tech zones has created a favorable technological space. Among more than 5,000 microchip engineers nationwide, Ho Chi Minh City accounts for the majority; this high-quality human resource, along with attracting investment from many large microchip manufacturing enterprises in the world, will bring many development opportunities.
SHTP has established the Semiconductor Electronics Center (ESC) to cooperate with businesses to prepare for human resource training. The High-Tech Business Incubator (under SHTP) has been upgraded to an Innovation Center. The Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR) is about to come into operation, serving as a platform connecting experts, international organizations and large economic groups to deploy policy testing and technology testing activities in the field of semiconductor chips... These "signals" are synchronized with the presence of 3 major partners of SHTP, which are leading corporations in chip design and providing chip design tools, including Siemens EDA (Germany), Synopsys and Cadence (USA), accounting for more than 80% of the global market share in providing tools and software for chip design automation.
To turn potentials into internal strength and maintain the national - city force, in the coming period, the solutions that the electronics and semiconductor industry of Vietnam needs to synchronize with training sectors in the field of electronics, semiconductors and related training sectors; establish new and strengthen investment in specialized research centers and institutes in the field of electronics and semiconductors. It is also very important to soon build mechanisms and policies to attract dedicated Vietnamese experts and scientists in developed countries, especially in Silicon Valley (USA). This resource is a valuable asset for technology transfer, training and developing domestic human resources, helping to quickly improve the capacity to absorb, apply and innovate domestic technology. It is also about building preferential policies on corporate income tax and personal income tax to encourage businesses to invest in training activities, develop human resources and attract Vietnamese experts and scientists abroad to return to the country.
NGUYEN QUAN CAT
According to Saigon Giai Phong Newspaper