The workshop on developing the semiconductor industry in Vietnam attracted many experts, scientists, and overseas Vietnamese working abroad (Photo: Nguyen Nguyen).
This afternoon (August 22) in Hanoi, thematic sessions took place within the framework of the 4th Conference of Overseas Vietnamese around the world, and the Forum of Vietnamese Intellectuals and Experts Abroad.
At the first session, with the content of developing the semiconductor industry in Vietnam, many experts, scientists, overseas Vietnamese... discussed and contributed their opinions.
Most experts agree that Vietnam is expected to become the "center" in the global production chain of many corporations in the future.
However, how to promote existing advantages while solving difficulties and challenges... is still a problem that requires the cooperation of many levels, authorities, businesses and experts.
Vietnam's advantage in the "semiconductor race"
According to Dr. Nguyen Thanh Tuyen, Deputy Director of the Department of Information Technology Industry, Ministry of Information and Communications, Vietnam has many advantages in developing the semiconductor industry. Typically, it has a favorable geographical location, a developed electronics industry, abundant rare earth resources, and a young workforce.
Dr. Tuyen believes that these factors, more or less, will contribute to creating competitive advantages for Vietnam in developing the semiconductor industry, as well as opportunities to participate more deeply in the global supply chain.
Dr. Nguyen Thanh Tuyen, Deputy Director of the Department of Information Technology Industry, Ministry of Information and Communications (Photo: Nguyen Nguyen).
Sharing about the goals in phase I (2024-2030), a representative from the Ministry of Information and Communications said that the Vietnamese government aims to build a team of 50,000 semiconductor engineers, 100 design enterprises, 1 chip manufacturing factory, 10 packaging and testing factories, achieving revenue of 25 billion USD/year.
In particular, the role of overseas Vietnamese in realizing the above strategic goal is extremely important.
At the Conference, Dr. Tuyen emphasized some key roles of this force, typically becoming an important resource for research, startups, and product commercialization.
In addition, overseas Vietnamese also play a role in supporting training, building laboratories, and nurturing talents in the semiconductor field in Vietnam.
This force can also become a bridge with multinational corporations, enhance Vietnam's image, as well as seek partners, transfer technology, and access advanced technology.
Mr. Le Hoang Phuc, Director of the Center for Research and Training in Microchip and Semiconductor Design in Da Nang City, shared about 3 solutions considered as "core" to bring advantages to the microchip and semiconductor industry in Vietnam, currently being implemented by the center in Da Nang.
Those three solutions include infrastructure, human resources, and specific mechanisms to encourage investment.
In particular, the human resource "bottleneck" has been deployed and promoted by Da Nang City since January 2024 through being a bridge and promoting cooperation between international companies and universities.
Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Mai Khanh (Japanese expatriate), expert at Marvell Technology Group (Photo: Nguyen Nguyen).
Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Mai Khanh (a Japanese expatriate), an expert at Marvell Technology Group, also believes that Vietnam is in a favorable position to attract manufacturers who want to diversify their supply chains outside of China.
These advantages include political stability, competitive labor costs, and proximity to China's Silicon Valley (Guangzhou-Dongguan-Shenzhen).
In addition, Vietnam has 19 free trade agreements with various countries, including the comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and the United States.
In this joint statement, the two sides acknowledged Vietnam's great potential to become a key country in the semiconductor industry, and supported the rapid development of the semiconductor ecosystem in Vietnam.
People and resources are the biggest challenge
From now until 2030, the semiconductor industry will need about 1 million workers for all stages (Illustration photo).
Although there are many advantages in developing high technology in general, and the semiconductor industry in particular, it cannot be denied that Vietnam still has many limitations that need to be overcome.
According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Le Quyen, National Innovation Center, Ministry of Planning and Investment, the "number 1" challenge that Vietnam faces is that the team of experts and lecturers in semiconductor training activities is still very limited.
The reason is that the training process still requires a huge investment from the State, institutes and businesses, including training facilities and research laboratories.
Besides, in Vietnam, university training programs are either limited or do not meet international standards compared to the "lightning-fast" development of semiconductor technology.
This poses difficult problems for developing and building the necessary human resources, aiming at the set goals.
Sharing the same view, Mr. Tran Dang Hoa, Chairman of FPT Semiconductor, also pointed out the human challenges, as a pioneer enterprise in the "semiconductor race" in Vietnam.
Mr. Hoa believes that the human factor is both an advantage and a challenge for Vietnam. The advantage is that we have a young, energetic workforce, and many businesses aiming for the Make in Vietnam criteria.
However, the challenge is that when Vietnam integrates, foreign enterprises will need tens of thousands of capable and qualified human resources and engineers when building production chains.
At that time, our ability to promptly train and provide this human resource will be the decisive factor in establishing Vietnam's position in the international arena.
Mr. Eric Phuong Nguyen, an overseas Vietnamese in Germany, shares his views on rare earth resources in Vietnam (Photo: Nguyen Nguyen).
Mr. Eric Phuong Nguyen, an overseas Vietnamese in Germany, said that each country usually only has certain strengths, but Vietnam has not yet made good use of its strengths.
“In addition to the efforts involved in chip design and testing, we have another resource that is being “forgotten”, which is rare earth,” shared Mr. Eric Phuong Nguyen.
“Vietnam has a reserve of about 22 million tons of rare earth, ranking second in the world, after China. However, Vietnam’s rare earth mining technology is still very primitive.”
According to experts, overseas Vietnamese in Germany, the Vietnamese government and scientists should work together to develop a specific research problem to make good and thorough use of this rare earth resource. Otherwise, this will be a huge waste.
Ms. Dang Thi Thu Ha, Director of the Department of Economics, Science and Technology, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that currently in Silicon Valley (USA), there are about 50,000 Vietnamese people working in the technology sector. Of these, a significant number work in the microchip and semiconductor sectors.
According to statistics, Vietnam has thousands of engineers working in the field of microchip design at home and abroad. Recently, many Vietnamese engineers have returned to the country to work, teach, and advise on a number of semiconductor projects in Vietnam.
This is a good sign, because it shows that there is a significant shift of knowledge from abroad to Vietnam, especially in countries with developed technology and economy.
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