Vietnam Invests in Semiconductor Talent and Infrastructure

Recently, the U.S. government announced an initial seed funding of $2 million, along with future support from the Vietnamese government and private sector in the field of semiconductors. Global semiconductor giants like Intel and Samsung have also declared increased investments in Vietnam.

On September 16, Hana Micron Vina (South Korea) inaugurated a semiconductor manufacturing plant in Van Trung Industrial Zone (Bac Giang). In early October 2023, the world's largest semiconductor factory owned by Amkor (South Korea) in Bac Ninh officially commenced operations. In the initial phase, the plant will focus on testing and providing advanced system-in-package (SiP) assembly and testing solutions for electronics and semiconductor manufacturers.

Vietnam is also accelerating its efforts to train semiconductor and microelectronics personnel with the goal of 30,000 to 50,000 skilled individuals. FPT Group is tasked with training 10,000 of these professionals.

In reality, although investment in the semiconductor sector has gained significant momentum in recent years, Vietnam has already produced outstanding talent recognized worldwide for many years.

"Almost every household used to have a DVD player. I think many people would be surprised to hear this. In fact, for many years, the most crucial chip in a DVD player was produced by a Vietnamese company with an entirely Vietnamese team. The only difference is that they were located in the U.S. We also collaborated with them to create software with a team in Vietnam," said Mr. Vu Anh Tu, CTO of FPT.

According to Mr. Nguyen Vinh Quang, the director of FPT Semiconductor (FPT Group's semiconductor chip development company), there are several successful individuals of Vietnamese origin in the field:

One such person is Ms. Le Duy Loan, a Vietnamese-born engineer who has made history in the United States. She is known as a pioneering expert in semiconductor materials, becoming the first woman and the only Asian to be honored as a 'Senior Fellow,' a distinguished long-term researcher at the longest-standing technology company in the U.S., Texas Instruments. As of 2017, Ms. Loan had a total of 24 patents, including four pioneering patents that played a significant role in the development of modern computers.

Ms. Nguyen Bich Yen is another high-level expert and the Deputy Chief Technology Officer of Soitec. She is the author of nearly 300 patents and over 200 scientific articles.

In Japan, there are also many Vietnamese individuals who are renowned professors in the semiconductor field, such as Professor Dang Luong Mo and Professor Pham Cong Kha at the University of Electro-Communications in Japan.

To fulfill its mission of training around 10,000 personnel, FPT University has established a Semiconductor Department. At the same time, the group is developing special training programs to swiftly transition IT professionals into semiconductor work, rather than solely focusing on the traditional 4-year university teaching programs.