The Viet Nam Semiconductor Industry Exhibition 2024 (SEMIExpo Viet Nam 2024) took place at the National Innovation Centre in Ha Noi on November 7 and 8, under the theme of "Elevating Viet Nam in the Global Semiconductor Supply Chain".

Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung speaking at the event. Photo: chinhphu.vn

As part of the SEMIExpo Viet Nam 2024, the forum "Developing the field of design, packaging and testing of microchips in Southeast Asia" was held on the morning of November 8.

Speaking at the forum, Standing Vice Chairman of the Da Nang People's Committee Ho Ky Minh said that the transformation and focus on the high-tech sector is the result of a leadership and direction process over the past 20 years of Da Nang.

In particular, since the upgrade of the Viet Nam - US relations to the comprehensive strategic partnership in September 2023 with strong joint statements on the development orientation of the semiconductor industry, the city has drastically and synchronously implemented many specific steps with a main orientation on developing human resources for semiconductor and artificial intelligence (AI) industries.

The focus has been on linking and cooperating with large, reputable domestic and foreign enterprises and partners to attract investment, train human resources, and form a semiconductor and AI ecosystem in the city.

In particular, the city has organised conferences and seminars to seek solutions for developing the semiconductor and AI industries in Da Nang, as well as paid business trips to the United States and Taiwan (China) to work with many of the world's leading corporations in semiconductor design such as Synopsys, Nvidia, Marvell, Intel, and Qualcomm.

During the working trips, Da Nang was highly appreciated by foreign partners for its potential and investment opportunities in semiconductor design and AI.

According to statistics, Da Nang is now home to about 10 semiconductor design enterprises such as Synopsys, FPT, Viettel, Savarti, Renesas and Synapse with about 600 engineers graduated from the University of Science and Technology - the University of Da Nang and other universities citywide. The city's semiconductor design human resources account for nearly 10% of the country’s total.

Da Nang is building a project to develop the microchip, semiconductor and AI sectors based on the needs of enterprises that have invested and are planning to invest in the city. At the same time, it is boosting cooperation in international- standard training activities to provide human resources for domestic and foreign microchip and semiconductor enterprises with which the city has established cooperative and investment relationships.

Additionally, the city sets a target of training at least 5,000 engineers in the field of microchips and semiconductors by 2030, including 2,000 engineers in the field of design and 3,000 engineers and technicians in the field of packaging and testing.

Given the current opportunities and goals, the city has been implementing three groups of solutions and tasks to create a favourable environment for the development of the semiconductor ecosystem.

Specifically, the city is building political and legal foundations to create policies to attract investment, and enhance cooperation in microchips, semiconductors and AI by focusing on concretising Resolution No. 136/2024/QH15 dated June 26, 2024 on the organisation of urban government and piloting specific mechanisms and policies for the development of the city.

The city is developing policies for human resource development; resolutions stipulating the contents to confirm enterprises operating in the semiconductors and AI to enjoy tax exemption and incentives; and policies to put into use information infrastructure assets invested by the State to support and encourage enterprises in the fields.

These policies are expected to create important momentum and changes to attract investment and cooperation from domestic and foreign enterprises to the city in the abovementioned fields.

At the same time, the city is preparing land funds, and infrastructure at concentrated IT parks and software parks for enterprises to implement projects and cooperate in semiconductors and artificial intelligence. By the end of 2024, Da Nang Software Park No. 2 with a floor area of ​​over 90,000m², meeting the needs of more than 6,000 employees, is expected to come into operation.

Also, the city is placing an emphasis on investing in and completing international fiber optic cable networks, electricity and transportation systems, and logistics infrastructure in a bid to fully meet the high requirements of semiconductor and AI investors.

The city is also discussing cooperation with Viettel, Synopsys, Intel, and Sovico corporations to call on them to invest, exploit, and operate laboratories and high-performance computing centres in service of research and training activities associated with practical requirements.

This is the basic foundation for training and fostering associated with practical practice on simulation models and modern equipment to meet the requirements of businesses.

Moreover, the city is paying attention to cooperating with businesses in training, and developing human resources, and attracting experts in semiconductors and AI. Da Nang has 37 facilities training human resource related to the information technology industry and other fields related to semiconductors such as telecommunications electronics, mechatronics, automation with about 5,700 students.

Currently, four universities in the city have announced new enrollment targets for microchip design engineers with nearly 320 targets/year.

On March 23, 2024, the city successfully launched semiconductor and microchip training programmes, and opened a training course on semiconductor to 25 lecturers selected from universities citywide.

With the support and advice of Synopys Group, in 2025, the city will select the best lecturers to attend the lecturer training course at the Sicada Academy (a cooperation unit of Synopsys in Taiwan).

The city is also cooperating with large corporations such as Nvidia and Qualcomm to implement innovation programmes, develop human resources in the fields of microchips, semiconductors and AI.

At the same time, based on working with international semiconductor enterprises, the city will connect universities in the city with international ones which have rich experience in providing qualified human resources in an effort to improve the quality of training and development.

The forum "Developing the field of design, packaging and testing of microchips in Southeast Asia" was jointly organised by the National Innovation Centre, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SEMI) and the People's Committee of Da Nang.

It was attended by corporations, enterprises, organizations and experts in the semiconductor field at home and abroad such as Onsemi, Cadence, Kulicke & Soffa, Synopsys, Tektronix, Emerson Electric, FPT, AmCham and MSIA. The participants together discussed global trends in the semiconductor equipment industry, Viet Nam's efforts to participate in the semiconductor industry, especially in the value chain of semiconductor equipment manufacturing.

Previously, SEMIExpo Viet Nam 2024 opened at the National Innovation Centre in Ha Noi on November 7.

The two-day event, the first and largest of its kind in Viet Nam, was being held by the National Innovation Centre (NIC) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SEMI) - a global organisation with more than 3,000 member companies, and 1.5 million professionals in the semiconductor and electronics design, manufacturing, and supply chains worldwide.

SEMIExpo Vietnam 2024 drew the participation of more than 5,000 delegates and 100 booths of major semiconductor technology corporations in the world and Viet Nam such as Cadence, Qualcomm, Intel, Qorvo, Dassault Systemes, Siemens, Tektronix, FPT and Viettel.

During the event, organisations promoted investment opportunities and the development of the industry in Viet Nam; updated the world’s advanced technology trends; and participated in dialogues with State management agencies.

Reporting by MAI QUE - Translating by M.DUNG