Vietnam and Japan have launched a semiconductor workforce development group involving four leading Vietnamese engineering universities, alongside a new innovation space at Hoa Lac.
At the Vietnam-Japan Innovation Forum on August 13, Vietnam’s National Innovation Center (NIC), the Embassy of Japan and Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) announced the establishment of the Vietnam-Japan Semiconductor Human Resources Development Working Group.
The working group brings together METI, NIC, Japanese semiconductor companies and four leading Vietnamese engineering universities: Hanoi University of Science and Technology; University of Engineering and Technology under Vietnam National University, Hanoi; Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology under Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City; and University of Science and Technology under the University of Danang.
Hoang Trung Hieu, Deputy Director of the National Innovation Center (right), and Ishikawa Isamu, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of Japan in Vietnam, at the announcement of the Vietnam-Japan Semiconductor Human Resources Development Working Group. Photo: Minh Duc
The initiative aims to identify gaps between semiconductor workforce supply and demand, better align industry needs with universities’ training capacity, and promote cooperation in education and talent connections between Vietnam and Japan.
Speaking at the event, Hoang Trung Hieu, Deputy Director of NIC, highlighted the importance of strategic technologies such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum technology and cybersecurity in strengthening national competitiveness.
“We want NIC Hoa Lac to become a convergence point for Vietnamese and Japanese technology, expertise and resources, building on an ecosystem that already has extensive cooperation with Japan,” Hieu said.
As part of the Japan-funded project to strengthen NIC’s capacity to support innovation, which is managed in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), NIC is also working to develop and operate the Vietnam-Japan Innovation Space at NIC Hoa Lac.
The facility is expected to serve as a model that could be replicated elsewhere, helping shape a broader innovation cooperation framework between the two countries and deliver practical results.
Ramla Khalidi, UNDP Resident Representative in Vietnam, welcomed the initiative, emphasizing that physical infrastructure alone cannot generate innovation without people.
“Infrastructure cannot create innovation on its own without people. The center will enable startups to safely validate ideas in areas such as drones and AI, helping reduce risks and quickly move products from the laboratory to the market,” she said.
Khalidi called on startups, researchers, investors and businesses to make use of the facilities, test ideas, seek partners and turn promising technologies into innovation partnerships, helping strengthen Vietnam’s innovation ecosystem while deepening innovation ties between Vietnam and Japan.
Partnerships are announced under the Vietnam-Japan Innovation Space initiative. Photo: Minh Duc
Ishikawa Isamu, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of Japan in Vietnam, also reaffirmed Japan’s long-term commitment to the partnership, dating back to the development of the master plan for Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park nearly three decades ago and continuing through the latest phase of Vietnam’s innovation ecosystem.
Reflecting on the history of bilateral cooperation, Ishikawa said a growing number of Vietnamese companies are now capable of competing internationally. In particular, several have become members of Keidanren, Japan’s major business federation.
To translate the Vietnam-Japan Innovation Space initiative into concrete projects, NIC has signed several memoranda of understanding with technology companies and organizations.
Notably, NIC signed agreements with HTI, Techno Vietnam and Saolatek to operate a UAV Lab dedicated to research and the commercialization of unmanned aerial vehicle technologies.
NIC is also cooperating with the Vietnam Innovation and Cybersecurity Expert Network, or ViSecurity, to use the Vietnam-Japan Innovation Space’s information technology infrastructure to develop a cybersecurity training and simulation environment as well as new cybersecurity technology solutions.
Vietnamnet.vn
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