A seminar to promote investment into Da Nang's fields of semiconductor and artificial intelligence (AI) was held in Portland City, Oregon State, the US, on February 28 (at local time).

Vice Chairman of the Da Nang People's Committee Ho Ky Minh (first on the right) and delegates at the seminar

Within the framework of the ongoing working trip to the US made by the group of Da Nang's officials, the event was jointly organised by the Da Nang Semiconductor and Artificial Intelligence Centre for Research and Training (DSAC), the Oregon State Government, and the University of Portland.

In attendance at the seminar were the Da Nang delegation, along with more than 40 delegates who were leaders of governments, businesses and universities in the US.

Also, there were Oregon State House of Representatives Daniel Nguyen, Paul Evans and Sophorn Cheang; Director of the Oregon State Business Development Agency; and representatives of leaders of Portland City, Oregon State University and University of Portland, and semiconductor companies such as Synopsys, Ampere, Microchip, and Intel.

In his remarks at the seminar, Vice Chairman of the Da Nang People's Committee Ho Ky Minh said that following the success of the Da Nang leaders' visit to the US in November 2023, the delegation of Da Nang wanted to have deeper and broader contact with US partners who want to promote cooperation and investment in the city's semiconductor and AI industries.

Director of the DSAC Le Hoang Phuc informed the attendees that Da Nang was determined to turn itself into a human resource training centrr for the semiconductor and AI fields.

The city has, therefore, prioritised implementing the stage of IC design and then the stages of packaging and testing. It is building semiconductor infrastructure, developing a project to develop semiconductor and microchips in the city, and issuing specific mechanisms and policies, in a bid to attract experts and investors to the city to work and research in training human resources for semiconductor and AI.

The city's goal is to strengthen the establishment of a network of more partners, training organisations and businesses to develop a team of source lecturers and engineers for the city.

The delegates at the seminar

The seminar featured two roundtable discussion sessions on two main topics related to training and attracting investment in the field of semiconductor.

The delegates and invited guests were very interested in the topic of higher education and research and training. Many proposals on scholarship mechanisms for excellent students were discussed at the event.

Many delegates suggested Da Nang and the state of Oregon promote cooperation in the field of education through organising short-term courses, and exchanging lecturers and students between Viet Nam and Oregon State, and vice versa.

Along with that, the report on promoting the development of semiconductor circuit design and AI received a lot of attention and the participation in the discussion of Mr. Dan Malinaric, Vice President of Microchip Techology Group; Ms. Jennifer Purcell, Director of Future Ready Oregon Foundation; and Ms. Sarah Means, Semiconductor Manager at the Oregon Governor's Office.

Accordingly, in 2023, after the US CHIPS Act took effect, the Oregon state government approved US$240 million in grants and loans to 15 businesses to promote the semiconductor industry in the state, one of the economic pillars of the region.

The Future Ready Oregon Foundation spent US$200 million on developing human resources, supporting businesses in recruiting personnel, and offering IC-oriented training programmes to enhance collaboration and diversity for human resources in the semiconductor field.

Training programmes about STEM and designing, manufacturing, assembling, testing, and packaging integrated circuits were also officially launched in January 2024.

Oregon state delegates said that this was a golden time for Da Nang to seek and boost cooperation and development in the semiconductor field.

They stressed the need for the city to build a solid foundation in infrastructure, policies and human resources, as well as organise formal training courses on IC design to successfully realise the vision of building a "Silicon Beach" in Da Nang similar to "Sillicon Valley" in the US.

​Reporting by P.V - Translating by M.DUNG