Bac Ninh supports 50% of tuition fees for students in high-tech fields

US high-tech giant commits to long-term commitment in Vietnam

In September 2023, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh worked with the President of the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) in Washington DC. The two sides agreed to promote US semiconductor business delegations to visit and explore investment opportunities in Vietnam and support business connections between the two countries.

Bac Ninh supports 50% of tuition fees for high-tech students image 1 — Mr. Nguyen Chi Dung, Minister of Planning and Investment . (Photo: MPI)

SIA Chairman John Neffeur made two working visits to Vietnam in January and October 2023 on the occasion of the Vietnam International Innovation Exhibition 2023 (VIIE 2023) and the Inauguration Ceremony of the National Innovation Center facility at Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park.

In the Seminar “Infrastructure readiness for the semiconductor industry in Vietnam” held on December 7, Mr. Nguyen Chi Dung, Minister of Planning and Investment, said: In order to implement the content of cooperation in developing the semiconductor industry in the Vietnam - US Joint Statement, in recent times, Vietnam has actively prepared conditions to be ready to welcome and cooperate with US businesses and investors in the semiconductor industry supply chain.

In particular, Vietnam has completed the one-stop mechanism, built a project to develop human resources for the semiconductor industry to reach 30,000 semiconductor engineers by 2030, and established NIC Hoa Lac to be ready to receive semiconductor investment projects with the most preferential policies.

“I believe that the US Semiconductor Industry Association and its member businesses will receive a lot of information to soon have plans for cooperation and investment in Vietnam,” said Mr. Dung.

Meanwhile, Mr. John Neuffer, Chairman of SIA emphasized: SIA member companies, many of which are present here today, have significant investments in Vietnam, including Intel, Marvell, Synopsys, Qualcomm, Ampere, Infineon,...

Bac Ninh supports 50% of tuition fees for high-tech students image 2 — Mr. John Neuffer, Chairman of SIA. (Photo: MPI)

Many companies are doubling down on their investments, a testament to Vietnam’s growing and pivotal role in the global semiconductor supply chain.

“We see incredible opportunities for Vietnam to grow its footprint in the global semiconductor supply chain,” said John Neuffer.

In fact, Vietnam has had quite specific orientations, goals and actions, consistently building important initial foundations for the semiconductor industry and is now considered a country with a dynamic innovation ecosystem thanks to the rapid development of the digital economy and the strong growth of the high-tech sector.

Vietnam is increasingly asserting itself as a new economic growth center of Asia with a solid position in the global supply chain, continuously receiving investment from multinational corporations.

Thanks to that, SIA member businesses have also announced new investment plans and development intentions in this potential market.

On Intel Vietnam's side, Intel wants to use the Ministry of Planning and Investment to support Intel's difficulties in the field of high-tech investment in Vietnam.

Qualcomm has been collaborating with Vietnamese partners for about 20 years during the digital transformation process. Qualcomm's plan is to continue to expand its cooperation in Vietnam in developing the semiconductor industry through Qualcomm's training programs, while recognizing that infrastructure deployment is very important in developing the industry.

Marvell Vietnam representative said that over the past 10 years, the company has made a clear commitment to developing human resources in the next 3-5 years through cooperation with universities and research institutes with the support of the Vietnamese Government. Intellectual property protection is extremely important for the company to invest in Vietnam. The company hopes to cooperate with member companies and ministries here to develop the Vietnamese semiconductor industry.

Meanwhile, Infineon has observed the fact that it is difficult to develop high-quality human resources. Therefore, Infineon has made a strong commitment to cooperate with businesses and universities in Vietnam, especially in Hanoi, to train human resources for the Vietnamese semiconductor industry.

Series of policies to retain "eagles"

In fact, Vietnam has many policies to support businesses in the semiconductor industry, especially policies to improve labor quality in the industry.

Mr. Vuong Quoc Tuan, Permanent Vice Chairman of Bac Ninh Provincial People's Committee shared: "We identify this as an opportunity to seize and best prepare for receiving foreign capital."

Bac Ninh supports 50% of tuition fees for high-tech students image 3 — Overview of the Seminar. (Photo: MPI)

According to Mr. Tuan, in the semiconductor field, in terms of infrastructure, Bac Ninh Industrial Park is the area with the largest industrial infrastructure in the North to become a center for research and innovation transfer.

“Bac Ninh province has a policy of supporting 50% of tuition fees for students in high-tech fields,” said Mr. Tuan.

Meanwhile, Mr. Nguyen Van Phuc, Deputy Minister of Education and Training, said: Vietnam has abundant human resources, the number of students studying STEM (science and technology) accounts for 1/3 and has increased by about 10% in the past 3 years.

According to Mr. Phuc, Vietnam has strengths in training in mathematics and chemistry, number 1 in Southeast Asia, thus creating a good foundation in other fields such as semiconductors and information technology. Currently, about 200,000 Vietnamese students are studying abroad.

“So if we develop high-tech industries, Vietnam has about 40 universities training in fields related to semiconductors,” said Mr. Phuc.

If the demand for semiconductor chips increases, students will turn more interested in this field and Vietnam can completely meet the human resource needs from additional training to completely new training.

“We really want American businesses to cooperate closely with universities, build training programs, support students to do internships, and support universities to build laboratories,” Mr. Phuc emphasized.

Mr. Nguyen Anh Thi, Head of the Ho Chi Minh City Industrial Park Management Board, said: For the semiconductor industry, Ho Chi Minh City has a relatively seamless ecosystem, possesses highly qualified human resources, and has a culture of innovation.

“HCMC recognized that human resources are extremely important from the beginning of 2002. It has established a semiconductor training center with Synosys, promoting human resource training in Vietnam in general and HCMC in particular,” said Mr. Thi.

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