Chinh had many working sessions with the US’s leading semiconductor corporations during the visit, and the corporations all praised Vietnam’s potential for semiconductor development.

The participants at the sessions suggested forms of cooperation between Vietnam and the US to successfully develop an ecosystem of the semiconductor industry in Vietnam. In the long term, American corporations may consider setting up chip manufacturing factories in Vietnam.

When visiting Silicon Valley, the Prime Minister witnessed the signing of a cooperation agreement between the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) and Synopsys to develop a semiconductor chip industry and establish a semiconductor research institute in Vietnam.

After that, Prime Minister Chinh and Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung witnessed the signing of a cooperation agreement between MIC’s Authority for Information and Communications Technology (AICT) and Synopsys on support to develop Vietnam’s semiconductor microchip industry.

Under the agreement, AICT will draw up a plan to establish a semiconductor research institute. The cooperation aims at building a draft strategy on establishing an advanced R&D manufacturing and simulation center, nurturing advanced IC design startups, and supporting R&D manufacturing capacity in Vietnam.

The National Innovation Center (NIC) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and Synopsys also inked cooperation to develop talented human resources for microchip designing in Vietnam. Under the plan, Synopsys will support NIC to set up a chip designing incubation center.

VN wants to join global semiconductor market

Also during the visit, a memorandum on strategic cooperation was signed between FPT Semiconductor and Silvaco, under which the two sides committed to cooperate to develop human resources for the semiconductor industry.

It is expected that Silvaco, FPT Semiconductor and FPT University will join hands to develop human resources for semiconductor companies in the US. The parties will also establish a Vietnam semiconductor training center, promoting workforce development in accordance with a government program.

FPT will provide IP (Intellectual Property) on Silvaco’s basis for the company to provide to its clients. Silvaco and FPT will also develop business in the fields of StandardCell, IO and Memory design. In the long term, Silvaco will become FPT Semiconductor’s strategic investor.

FPT Semiconductor will act as the representative and sole distributor of Silvaco’s software in Vietnam. Established in 1984, Silvaco is a technology software, automation and semiconductor company. In addition to its headquarters in Santa Clara, California, it also has offices in North America, Europe and Asia.

MPI’s Nguyen Chi Dung stressed that this is the next step for Vietnam to deploy cooperation activities between institutions and enterprises in the US semiconductor industry and Vietnamese partners to bring opportunities to expand the market and improve Vietnam’s capability in the industry.

On September 11, on the occasion of US President Biden’s to Vietnam, FPT President Truong Gia Binh announced a strategy on making investments in the US, developing high-quality workforce in the field of AI, and promoting the development of Vietnam’s semiconductor industry.

FPT also announced comprehensive strategic cooperation with LandingAI, a pioneer in the field of machine vision and AI in Silicon Valley, in order to speed up the process of putting AI into training curricula in the FPT Education system.

FPT is the first enterprise in Vietnam manufacturing commercial chips, focusing on designing source chips to clients’ orders. Currently, FPT is gathering strength on expanding its semiconductor and AI divisions.

VN’s tech firms invest in US

On September 18, with the witness of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Rikkeisoft, a Vietnamese technology firm, announced investment of $30 million in the US market by 2026 which will be disbursed for human resources development, market expansion and M&A deals.

The initial investment of $2 million will be disbursed in 2023 and the capital will increase gradually to $30 million by 2026.

The investment is expected to generate hundreds of jobs for the US market and help Rikkeisoft become a multi-billion dollar technology firm in the next five years.

Rikkeisoft president Ta Son Tung said the US is the strategic market for it.

“We strive for capitalization value of $1 billion, and only a large market like the US can help us reach that end,” Tung said. “We have been succeeding in Japan, but we also want to enter the US, simply because this is the largest market."

Thai Khang