The world economic and political context is opening up great opportunities for Vietnam to develop the semiconductor chip industry as well as participate in the global value chain.
The current urgent issue, according to experts, is the need to have a program to develop quality human resources to serve the industry and implement policies to attract investment and talent to welcome the market of up to 1 trillion USD by 2030.
The semiconductor chip is considered the foundation of modern computing. A series of devices that people are using such as cars, phones, computers, televisions, airplanes, robots, medical equipment, other home electronics, etc. all need chips and microchip systems to operate.
Vietnam is having the opportunity to become one of the destinations of the world's leading semiconductor technology corporations. Illustration: DNCC
The new shores of the "big guys" in the semiconductor industry
Economic growth and political stability have helped improve its position, prestige and open up opportunities for Vietnam to become one of the destinations of the semiconductor industry. leading semiconductor technology corporation in the world.
Amkor Technology Group (Korea) is urgently investing in a factory to manufacture, assemble and test semiconductor materials and equipment in Bac Ninh province so that it can be put into trial production by the end of October. With a total investment capital of 1.6 billion USD, the high-tech semiconductor factory project in Yen Phong II-C Industrial Park will be Amkor's big factory globally.
Similarly, Samsung recently also organized the first round of GSAT (Global Samsung aptitude test) recruitment exam in 2023 to serve the activities of the R&D Center (Hanoi) and the plan to produce grids of transistors at the factory. Samsung Electro-Mechanics Vietnam (SEMV) in Thai Nguyen. This is a project with a capital of over $2.6 billion.
Meanwhile, active businesses are constantly increasing the scale and position of projects in Vietnam. For example, Meiko Group (Japan) has just proposed to the leaders of Hoa Binh province to support the investment in a factory producing all kinds of electronic circuits with an investment of about 200 million USD in the left bank of Song Da Industrial Park.
This group of electronic circuit boards manufacturing and assembling complete electronic boards invested in 2006 and now has 3 factories manufacturing and assembling electronic circuit boards with a total investment of about 500 million USD.
Or Intel many years ago poured more than 1 billion dollars into Vietnam and until now this factory is still one of the important production bases of the corporation. Notably, reliable sources revealed that this US-based semiconductor group is considering a plan to pour more capital to increase the capacity of its project in the Ho Chi Minh City Hi-Tech Park (SHTP).
Following are other multinational corporations pouring capital into the Vietnamese semiconductor industry, including Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, Hayward Quartz Technology, NXP Semiconductors, SK Hynix, etc. All of which gradually create an increasingly specialized semiconductor ecosystem.
It can be said that along with the wave of FDI transfer, Vietnam is receiving more high-quality and value-added investment projects. In particular, investors choose Vietnam as a destination to bring the semiconductor industry into Vietnam, from setting up facilities for manufacturing components and semiconductor materials, testing chips to even training design engineers. chip design.
Notably, in the semiconductor industry, the design stage is considered very important and creates high added value, and Vietnam is also attracting the attention of large investors in chip design.
In May, Marvell Technology Corporation (USA) announced the establishment of the world's leading IC Design Center in Ho Chi Minh City on the basis of upgrading the company's branch located in Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone (HCMC).
Marvell's global business model is "Fabless", which means designing chips and then hiring manufacturers to process the chips. Marvell doesn't have any factories globally. Chip production will be handled by 3rd parties such as TSMC (Taiwan), Samsung, UMC ...
According to Mr. Le Quang Dam, General Director of Marvell Vietnam, the group has about 20 design centers around the world. With this "upgrade", Marvell Vietnam becomes one of the four world-class centers of Marvell (along with three centers including the US, India and Israel).
“The design center in Vietnam will be the place to research and develop the most advanced IC technologies; At the same time, it is an ideal workplace for Vietnamese technology engineers, allowing them to hone their professional skills and open up many career development opportunities in the field of microchips and semiconductors,” said Mr. Dam. emphasize.
The establishment of the IC Design Center in Vietnam by the leading corporation in chip and semiconductor solutions for data infrastructure with more than 10,000 patents around the world is considered by analysts as a This is an important step to close the talent gap and promote the development of the industry.
Immediately after, Infineon Technologies AG, Germany's leading semiconductor manufacturer, announced the establishment of an electronic chip development center in Hanoi, with a scale of about 25 technical experts by the end of the year.
This force focuses on testing and customizing digital circuits, analog signal circuits, integration, application support for autonomous driving, battery monitoring and balancing, as well as research on microcontroller chips. for automotive applications.
The chip development team's activities in Hanoi are managed by Infineon Technologies Vietnam, a subsidiary of Infineon Technologies Asia-Pacific.
Similarly, Mr. Nguyen Anh Thi, Head of SHTP, said that in addition to two active semiconductor design projects of Microchip Technology Company (Vietnam) and SNST & Finger Vina Company, SHTP is also attracting attention. and find investment opportunities from other chip designers around the world.
Earlier, chip designer from Japan Renesas has also continuously expanded its presence, increased scale and developed a team of domestic engineers for the industry.
How attractive is Vietnam?
Since the Covid-19 epidemic, supply chain disruptions have led to difficulties in the global chip, component and semiconductor manufacturing industry. In that context, corporations are rearranging production chains, opening up opportunities for many countries, of which Vietnam is the destination of many of the world's leading chip corporations.
“The technology industry is cutting staff very sharply; However, Vietnam is still a country that brings very good efficiency in terms of IC design investment. That's why Marvell Global remains committed to developing and expanding recruitment in Vietnam," said Marvell Vice President, Dr. Loi Nguyen shared.
According to Marvell's assessment, over the past 10 years, Vietnamese engineers have proven their capabilities, from knowledge, professional experience, and project management skills. “Vietnam's human resources have developed enough to take on the latest technology projects. That's why Marvell decided to elevate Marvell Vietnam to become a world-class design center," he said.
Mr. CS Chua, President and CEO of Infineon Technologies Asia - Pacific, said that with a population of nearly 100 million people and a young population structure, Vietnam is developing into a key market and becoming a key market. become the preferred destination of multinational corporations in the search for technical talent.
“ Vietnam has emerged as an important player in the global value chain of the electronics industry with record investments in the manufacturing sector in recent years,” said Mr. CS Chua.
An economy of nearly 100 million people also possesses a number of advantages that can facilitate entry into the semiconductor market, such as a large and young population, and an increasing number of skilled workers in the electronics industry. Low labor costs and strategic location in Southeast Asia contribute to Vietnam's business-friendly environment. The Vietnamese government is opening its doors to foreign trade and investment, while adjusting the legal framework to match international practices.
On the other hand, Vietnam has an ecosystem of local entrepreneurs who are always ready to learn and improve, have a clear plan for the future development trajectory…
Action to enter the trillion-dollar market
The growing demand for semiconductor chip products in many industries, such as automobile manufacturing, healthcare, artificial intelligence, electronics, home appliances, etc., has spurred rapid market expansion. global semiconductor market.
According to data from the American Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), the global semiconductor industry's sales are currently around $600 billion and are forecast to grow to $1 trillion by 2030. That means, participating in the global semiconductor market, Vietnam will have market access opportunities up to billions of dollars.
In the context that the semiconductor industry plays an increasingly important role in global competition, most countries with technological potential have developed strategies to support and promote the semiconductor industry, while strengthening association and cooperation to dominate this field.
Currently, Vietnam ranks 9th globally in the field of exporting electronic goods. With this available strength, experts say, Vietnam has the opportunity to become the world's chip design and production center, especially in the context of large technology corporations planning to boost production. semiconductor components in Vietnam.
Analysts say that Vietnam has a great opportunity to develop the semiconductor industry and participate in the global semiconductor market. To achieve this, Vietnam has to solve a number of obstacles such as: establishing a domestic supply chain; create a favorable business environment; funding research and development and cooperation with international partners.
However, it is worth noting that it is necessary to train a skilled, quality workforce to be able to participate in the industry. Because according to Mr. Robert Li, Sales Vice President of Synopsys Taiwan and South Asia, the current big challenge of the chip manufacturing industry is the lack of human resources, while Vietnam has this human strength and The cost is still low compared to other countries in the region…
Therefore, Synopsys, the world's leading supplier of major IC design tools, recently supported SHTP to train and develop human resources in IC design for lecturers of schools and institutes; and organize advanced training courses on IC design.
According to Marvell Vietnam, the demand for recruiting engineers is very large in the near future. Therefore, in order to have enough human resources for chip design, this investor is coordinating with major universities for training.
Assoc. Nguyen Van Quy, a lecturer at the International Training Institute for Materials Science (Hanoi University of Science and Technology), also cited international reports showing that Vietnam is facing a shortage of high-quality human resources, holding high-quality positions. key in designing and manufacturing chips and microchips.
According to Mr. Quy, when surveying the demand from more than 30 businesses to build programs in Microelectronics and Nanotechnology, many large companies such as Samsung or LG shared their willingness to receive several hundred employees a year in the coming year. Engineer positions design, fabricate, manufacture chips and electronic components.
Facing the strong development trend of the semiconductor industry, many experts suggested that the Government should promote the development of human resources for the development industry.
The door to the development of global chip design and production is wide open to Vietnam, but it is important that Vietnam has a strategy and ready resources, infrastructure, as well as good and competitive incentives. with other countries in the region, etc. to be able to attract and retain investors in this field.
Le Hoang