Although the number of microchip businesses in Da Nang is not large, these businesses are growing rapidly, contributing to gradually building Da Nang into a microchip industrial ecosystem.

Employees at the Da Nang branch of Synopsys Vietnam Co., Ltd. in Hai Chau District are at work. Photo: M.Q

Expanding investment in Da Nang

In the early days of December 2023, nearly 300 employees at the Da Nang branch of the Synopsys Vietnam Co., Ltd. are focusing most on completing the work as requested by domestic and foreign partners.

The Da Nang branch was established in January 2020 with 169 employees after Synopsys Group (USA) acquired eSilicon Vietnam Co., Ltd. After nearly 4 years of operation, the company's personnel increased by 70% and achieved many impressive results.

Recently, at the Intel Innovation event of the Intel Corporation taking place in September in the United States, Mr. Pat Gelsinger, the CEO of Intel Corporation launched the first 3-nanometer chip model using multi-die technology designed by supplier Synopsys Vietnam. Previously, each chip had only one silicon die (like a brain) to perform functions such as calculation, but this technology allows dozens of dies to connect together in the same chip. This helps increase the chip's capabilities and speed up to dozens of times.

It is known that this is an advanced chip design solution with the participation of many Synopsys engineers in Da Nang, affirming the mark of IC engineers working in Da Nang.

According to Mr. Nguyen Bao Anh, the Technical Director, in charge of developing high-tech projects of the Da Nang branch of Synopsys Vietnam Co., Ltd., the design engineer team of Synopsys Da Nang is participating in developing most of the Synopsys's main products including high-speed IP core, embedded memory, ASIC design, product quality management and other product parts.

In the coming time, Synopsys will continue to invest and expand its operation in Da Nang at a rate of 15%/year, depending on the business situation and quality of human resources in this central Vietnamese city.

Also in mid-September 2023, the FPT Information System Company Limited (FPT IS, a member of the renowned Vietnamese FPT Group) opened a representative office and Research and Development Centre (R&D) in the Da Nang Industrial Park, Son Tra District.

The establishment of the R&D Centre creates cooperative links between domestic and international businesses in clean and renewable energy, carbon index testing, positioning Da Nang as an international centre for innovation and creativity, and the provision of advanced technology solutions.

Mr. Tran Dang Hoa, the Chairman of FPT Information System Company Limited, said that the R&D Center in Da Nang will develop key technology solutions such as semiconductor chips, smart health care, and akaBot automated platforms, thereby introducing more new technology products and encouraging the relocation of industrial production centres from Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City as well as g other R&D centers from international partners to Da Nang.

Most recently, at the conference ‘Digital transformation of production in the new era: when Automation combines AI’ jointly held by the Da Nang Investment Promotion Agency and the Authority of the Hi-tech Park and Da Nang Industrial Zones in mid-December 2023, the representatives of FPT IS and Dell Technologies (Dell Group) together committed to coordinating with the city to remove bottlenecks in operations, promote business and increase productivity and competitiveness, contributing to the goal of making Da Nang a new leading technology and innovation centre in Asia.

Need a lot of support

According to the latest statistics, there are about 250 businesses operating in Da Nang in the field of manufacturing, processing and assembling electronic components with a combined total of nearly 10,500 employees. In Da Nang, there are currently companies operating in IC design such as Synopsys, Uniquify, Savarti, Renesas, Synapse, Fptsemi and Sannei Hytechs with about 550 engineers. However, the production of enterprises is mainly in low-value stages such as assembly and packaging.

According to Mr. Nguyen Bao Anh, microchip businesses in the city are mainly representative offices and the number is not large. To have more large businesses investing in the field of microchips in Da Nang, it is high time for the city to focus on the following issues, namely training quality human resources, ensuring good infrastructure to support high-tech industries, favourable business conditions, open legislation and preferential tariffs and costs from the national government.

Mr. Pham Kim Son, the Chairman of the Da Nang Software Business Association, analysed that in addition to the general policies issued by the national government, Da Nang needs to have specific and breakthrough policies in supporting the formation and development of the IC industry, focusing mainly on training human resource and supporting the formation of the IC industry ecosystem, promoting innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship in the IC field.

Specifically, there should be a policy of substantive and key support for a number of universities across the city that have the capacity to train microchip human resources in parallel with supporting innovation activities not only for IC design and production but also for IC application activities, so as to quickly form an IC industry community, contributing to creating an investment-attracting environment for the city's microchip industry.

Meanwhile, in his point of view, Mr. Le Tri Hai, the Chairman of the Da Nang Young Entrepreneurs’ Association, Director of the Green Global Joint Stock Company, stressed a must - do to develop the microchip industry, with a focus on training human resource and attracting foreign investment, boosting infrastructure investment and business support as well.

In the spirit of accompanying the city, in the coming time, the Da Nang Young Entrepreneurs Association will organise or coordinate with local universities and colleges to organise human resource training programmes for the microchip industry, forums and seminars on microchips. This is an opportunity to grasp the needs of investors, and at the same time connect with local businesses to ensure the criteria for implementing cooperation in the city's microchip industry.

Reporting by MAI QUE – Translating by A.THU