Semiconductor sector to get workforce boost
HANOI: According to the Planning and Investment Ministry (MPI), the Vietnamese government is working on a plan to build a 50,000-strong workforce for the development of the country’s semiconductor industry until 2030, with a vision to 2045.

The ministry said engineers must start engaging in the design of modern semiconductor microchips, and participating in the packaging and testing stages.

The South-East Asian economy has set a target to become a crucial link in the global semiconductor industry’s value chain with a skilled workforce, meeting the industry’s development requirements in terms of both quality and quantity.

The National Innovation Centre (NIC) has been tasked with leading the drafting of the plan.

Vu Quoc Huy, director of the NIC, said the key objective is to supply sufficient skilled labour for the domestic semiconductor industry, and potentially export labour to other markets.

Regarding the semiconductor workforce in Vietnam, Huy said companies such as VHT (Viettel) and FPT Semiconductor have around 200 employees.

He added that 36 companies from Japan, the United States, Chinese Taipei, China and South Korea have invested in the economy, employing approximately 5,600 engineers.

Among these, Intel has invested US$1.5bil in Vietnam since 2009, employing nearly 3,000 engineers.

In the northern province of Bac Ninh, the Amkor Technology has invested over US$1.6bil in three phases.

According to a 2023 report by the MPI, there were sufficient resources in Vietnam to train about 50,000 engineers for the industry by 2030.

Large international corporations are operating in the country, including Intel and Amkor in packaging and testing, Marvell, Qorvo and Qualcomm in design, and Synopsys and Cadence in providing semiconductor chip design tools.

In addition, there were established cooperation programmes with global semiconductor giants for workforce training.

Siemens Group has pledged to support Vietnam with the most advanced chip design software and hardware, provide training services and collaborate with the NIC to promote the development of the domestic workforce.

Synopsys has supported NIC in establishing a chip design incubation centre at the Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park, including advanced Synopsys technologies in modelling and simulation to optimise software and synchronise hardware system-on-chip designs. Synopsys also provided training licences, including curriculum, educational resources and lecturer training programmes, to help establish the chip design incubation centre.

In an earlier development, the NIC signed a memorandum of understanding with the US semiconductor company Cadence on the implementation of design capabilities and to develop semiconductor chip products in Vietnam.

In addition, a specialised training course on microchip design is to be offered to lecturers from universities in the Hanoi area and engineers in tech companies. — Viet Nam News/ANN
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According to the Planning and Investment Ministry (MPI), the Vietnamese government is working on a plan to build a 50,000-strong workforce for the development of the country’s semiconductor industry until 2030, with a vision to 2045.