Although it has just entered the semiconductor chip market for only one year with 7 chip lines, FPT Semiconductor Company under the Vietnamese tech giant FPT, has continuously received orders from businesses from South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan (China) and the United States. FPT is committed to working with Da Nang in human resource planning, training high-quality human resources for the semiconductor chip industry, and turning the city into a ‘Silicon valley’ in Viet Nam.

A view of FPT’s product ecosystem, in which semiconductor chip is the current development priority. Photo: TRIEU TUNG

Companion 

On November 25, 2023, through the announcement event of Da Nang Planning for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050, Chairman of the Board of Directors of FPT Truong Gia Binh commented that this is a special historical moment when Viet Nam is chosen as the destination and fulcrum for the semiconductor chip industry. This is the time when small chips made by Vietnamese people have the ability to contribute to the country's bright future.

“I see that future in Da Nang. Da Nang has many advantages, including a fact that it has the highest ratio of universities/population in Viet Nam and students account for 10% of the population. Intel, Synopsys, along with many major information technology (IT) and semiconductor corporations in the world have done business in Da Nang. Recently, Secretary of Da Nang Party Committee Nguyen Van Quang also met with the representatives of many organisations and businesses in the United States and the city’s administration entered strategic cooperation deals with them. Da Nang has the opportunity to be a new destination for the world semiconductor industry”, said Mr. Binh.

Mr. Truong Gia Binh said, in the past, Viet Nam was just a number on the world’s IT map, but now it has one million IT engineers and half a million software engineers. It is the second largest software exporting country, after India. FPT will accompany Da Nang in human resource planning, training high-quality human resources for the semiconductor chip industry and turning the city into a “Silicon valley” in Viet Nam.

The strong commitment from the leader of FPT is always demonstrated by the fact that FPT is currently a strategic investor in Da Nang, playing a leading role in development in the field of IT and it can take the lead in training and developing industrial production of semiconductor.

At Da Nang-located FPT Technology Urban Area, the FPT University has so far been training more than 17,500 students, providing high-quality human resources for the city in many fields.

FPT Education Organisation has also established the Faculty of Semiconductor Circuits, expected to welcome the first batch of students in 2024. From November 1, 2023, FPT University opened a master's degree programme in software engineering in Da Nang and the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho. FPT Complex is the headquarters of more than 7,000 FPT Software officers and employees.

As reported by Mr. Nguyen Tuan Phuong, Chairman of FPT Software Da Nang, the unit's operation started in Da Nang in 2005, and till date, in the field of software export, FPT has been proud to reach a high growth milestone, averaging over 20 %/year and annually, contributing one fifths of Da Nang’s IT revenue. FPT and its member units make an annual contribution of over VND500 billion to the city’s budget.

Here are semiconductor chip products that were produced by FPT at FPT Techday 2023. Photo: GIA PHUC

Master chip technology

According to General Director of FPT Group Nguyen Van Khoa, since the first chip export batch in September 2022, FPT has so far received orders for more than 70 million chips in the 2024 – 2025 period, collaborating globally to develop human resources.

By 2024, chip demand worldwide is expected to increase significantly, with some segments such as memory chips climbing up by 25%. Semiconductor chip sales are estimated to reach US$ 1,000 billion by 2030. Semiconductor chips will appear in all electronic devices in daily life such as phones, remotes, televisions, computers, tablets, computers, cars and airplanes. 

In order to well prepare for the future, FPT is opening semiconductor training at universities and colleges and  it is committed to training one fifths of the national government's target of 50,000 semiconductor engineers by 2030.

According to FPT Technology Director Vu Anh Tu, FPT started making preparations for AI and semiconductor chips more than 10 years ago and considers this a door for FPT to strongly go global.

Currently, FPT is said to be facing a ‘golden opportunity’ when Viet Nam and the United States have just upgraded their relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership, opening up opportunities for businesses of the two countries to boost cooperation in key technology industries.

Although it has just entered the semiconductor chip market for one year, FPT Semiconductor Company under FPT has continuously received orders from businesses from South Korea, Japan, Taiwan (China) and the United States.

In 2023, the company launched 7 new chip lines. In 2024, the company will continue to design and produce IoT Platform chips for smart, wearable, and IoT device applications for agriculture, forestry and seafood industries.

Chairman of the Board of Directors of FPT Group Truong Gia Binh said that FPT is always ready to implement projects to support the development of software production and train high-quality human resources for Da Nang.

He also emphasised that FPT plans to pour VND 6,000 billion VND worth of investment in Da Nang in the 2022 - 2025 peẻiod, and will continue to perfect the education - technology network of 10,000 programmers by 2024.

FPT is also ready to transfer technology, knowledge and experience in new tech trends such as Blockchain, Metaverse and AI with businesses in Da Nang, including software and IT businesses.

Reporting by TRIEU TUNG  - Translating by A.THU