As Vietnam races to embrace its lofty semiconductor ambitions, human resources and education have emerged as two of the key pillars of its strategy.
The country has long performed well when it comes to education, especially STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) subjects. For example, the most recent Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) rankings placed Vietnam behind only Singapore among Southeast Asian countries.
Overall, Vietnam ranked 34th out of 81 countries on the list, a particularly strong performance given its stage of economic development.
Training students for the semiconductor industry, however, is an even bigger challenge – one the government has acknowledged by aiming to spend US$1 billion on 50,000 semiconductor engineers by 2030. Officials estimate that by that year, Vietnam’s chip industry will need 35,000 engineers and 13,500 chip designers.
That figure will be extremely difficult to attain, but progress is being made.
The National Innovation Center (NIC), which is taking the lead on this effort, has partnered with a number of high-profile international corporations and universities to create training programs.
Thus far, the NIC has partnered with Qorvo, Cadence, Synopsys, ARM, and Marvell Technology. Other partners include Google, Samsung, the University of Arizona, and USAID.
In early August, about 70 students completed Vietnam’s first in-depth chip design training course. This was organized by the NIC, FPT Corporation, Cadence, and Tresemi.
The United States also recently launched the ITSI-CHIPS Workforce Accelerator Program in partnership with multiple government ministries and Arizona State University. Vietnam will receive US$4 million under the program and is one of eight countries globally taking part.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, meanwhile, established a national steering committee to promote the development of the semiconductor industry, reiterating high-level support for the sector. This committee will help officials “direct and resolve important issues related to promoting the development of the semiconductor industry” in Vietnam.
As discussed in our previous coverage of the chip sector, FPT is one of the leading domestic stakeholders in this industry. They are uniquely situated across both the tech education and manufacturing sectors, meaning they will play a key role in improving Vietnam’s human resources.
In Vietnam Holding’s recent ‘Vietnam the Global Digital Race’ webinar, Nguyen Khai Hoan, Senior Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer at FPT Software – a subsidiary of FPT, explained some of the corporation’s initiatives in the AI and semiconductor spaces.
“Vietnam is becoming a very attractive destination for semiconductor companies, and by the end of 2024, the industry is forecast to pass US$6 billion in value, making it an important production center,” he said.
“More than 50 semiconductor companies have a presence here, and FPT is working closely with the Vietnamese government on the 50,000 engineers target,” Hoan added. “We are fully integrating Vietnam into the global semiconductor system, and two years ago we founded FPT Semiconductor, an internal startup to become the first Vietnamese company to manufacture commercial chips.”
“In parallel, FPT aims to develop a high-quality workforce for the industry, and we work with FPT University to design curriculum and launch a semiconductor circuit faculty providing comprehensive training to undergrad and postgrad students to support the government’s plan,” he said.
All FPT employees, meanwhile, must now take mandatory AI training to better prepare the business for future innovations. “We position ourselves as an AI-defined corporation, supporting Vietnam’s aspiration of becoming an AI nation. In the last 10 years we have spent our efforts in AI research and development, and today we have more than 1,000 AI experts and engineers. AI will be embedded in our services and solutions, playing a crucial role in enabling new levels of performance for our clients,” he stated.
While Vietnam has its work cut out given the highly competitive nature of the global chip industry, the opportunity is there. Nikkei Asia recently reported on the growing presence of semiconductor companies from the United States, Taiwan, and South Korea among others – drawn in part by Vietnam’s relatively low-cost, talented labor pool.
All of the right chips (pun intended) are in place – it’s up to Vietnam to make the right bet.
Writing credit Michael Tatarski