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US firms Qorvo, Cadence launch chip design course in Vietnam

Vietnam’s Ministry of Planning and Investment and its National Innovation Center have launched an integrated circuit design course with the support of US semiconductor firms Qorvo and Cadence. These companies have contributed experts, lecturers, and software licenses to help Vietnam upskill its workforce in the semiconductor field.

This cooperation in training semiconductor chip human resources between the U.S. and Vietnam follows on from a commitment made by The US president during his visit to Hanoi in September last year. It also fits with Vietnam’s ambitions to become a hub for semiconductor chip manufacturing companies, although a lack of skilled labour has proved problematic.

Of note, the Ministry of Information and Communications has developed a National Strategy for the semiconductor industry to train 50,000 engineers by 2030. This would mean training 10,000 semiconductor engineers each year, however, currently, domestic human resources can only meet 50 percent of this target.

Vietnam’s semiconductor industry is forecast to see a compound annual growth rate of 11.6 percent between 2023 and 2027, reaching US$31.28 billion by 2027, according to Statista.

The main stages that Vietnam participates in the semiconductor chip production process are assembly, packaging, and testing. Vietnam is not heavily involved in actual manufacturing. 

Vietnam boasts only six domestic companies in the design phase, compared to a significant presence of approximately 40 foreign players from Japan, the US, Taiwan, and South Korea.

See also: Vietnam’s Semiconductor Manufacturing Ambitions: Unpacked

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