Ho Chi Minh City has set out specific steps to become a national center for research and development of the semiconductor industry, with the capacity to participate in high value-added stages in the global value chain of this industry.
Investing 5 million USD to train semiconductor human resources
The Ho Chi Minh City High-Tech Park has submitted a report to the City People's Committee on the Semiconductor Industry Development Plan to 2030. The most important goal set for the next 5 years is to develop the High-Tech Park into a national center for research and development of the semiconductor industry, mastering advanced technology. At the same time, incubating and successfully commercializing Vietnamese microchip products with applications in building a smart city and sustainable development.
One of the key tasks proposed to be implemented in 2025 is to establish a Microchip Design Human Resource Development Fund with a capital of 5 million USD, to train and improve skills for about 40,000 engineers from now to 2030 (equivalent to about 6,000 engineers/year). Investing in microchip human resources will be the first step to realize the goals, because this is the weakest point in the development of the semiconductor microchip industry in Ho Chi Minh City.
After investing in human resources, Ho Chi Minh City will build high-performance computing infrastructure and AI platform to develop and apply AI technology to semiconductor microchip products, to IoT systems and applications in smart manufacturing environments. In order to attract investment in semiconductor microchip projects, the City will expand the existing High-Tech Park and add the function of the Science and Technology Park to promote technology incubation research and product commercialization.
The goal set from now until 2030 is to attract 20 incubation projects and deploy the provision of necessary support services for the projects. In particular, focusing on artificial intelligence microchips, smart data processing microchips, secure communication microchips serving digital transformation and smart urban construction, high-tech products and key products using soft microchip cores or domestically designed microchips.
Regarding investment attraction, capital will be attracted to at least 4 projects, including at least one large high-tech corporation in the world, striving to attract at least one strategic investor in the semiconductor microchip industry, focusing on the stage with high added value, connecting to the global semiconductor industrial ecosystem.
With strong investment, Ho Chi Minh City sets a goal of mastering the technology from the design stage to manufacturing important environmental sensors using MEMS technology by 2030. Next is the successful research, design and manufacture of power electronic components such as MOSFET or Transistor applied in the field of power control. And the successful incubation and commercialization of Vietnamese microchip products with applications in building smart cities and sustainable development.
The "golden" opportunity has come
The opportunity for Ho Chi Minh City to attract technology "giants" has come when a series of corporations came to the City to survey locations, some corporations announced expanding investment in the City. In particular, the "giant" NVIDIA had 3 surveys in Ho Chi Minh City last year to cooperate with domestic enterprises to train and develop AI; establish an AI Computing Center of Excellence; establish an R&D Center.
Another US technology giant, Marvell, is accelerating the expansion of its chip design center in Ho Chi Minh City. Mr. Le Quang Dam, General Director of Marvell Technology Vietnam, said that Marvell decided to establish additional chip design centers in Ho Chi Minh City and several other localities to design new microchip technology chips such as optical connections, storage, analog and mixed signal semiconductor technology.
In addition to new investment projects, a number of high-tech projects have increased investment capital and expanded in Ho Chi Minh City. In particular, BE Semiconductor Industries N.V. of the Netherlands (BESI) - specializing in manufacturing, trading and providing services and semiconductor manufacturing equipment to supply leading multinational microchip manufacturers - is completing procedures to expand its investment.
At the Investment Promotion Conference in Thu Duc City held on February 6, Mr. Nguyen Ky Phung, Head of the Management Board of Ho Chi Minh City High-Tech Park, said that it is expected that in February 2025, the Management Board will issue an investment registration certificate for expansion to BESI.
Recently, Ho Chi Minh City has organized investment promotion and invited US and European investors to invest in the microchip sector in the City. However, to attract investors, the City needs to improve many existing weaknesses.
"If Ho Chi Minh City has professional training of human resources to supply businesses, there is a high possibility that US investors will choose Ho Chi Minh City as a destination to invest in the microchip industry", said Prof. Le Trong Thuy, Head of the Department of Electrical Engineering (San Jose State University, USA).
Le Quan
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