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Viettel announced the successful design of the 5G DFE chip, the most complex chip in Southeast Asia to date. Photo: TK

According to Mr. Nguyen Khac Lich, Director of the Department of Information and Communications Technology ( Ministry of Information and Communications ), the Prime Minister has signed and issued the Strategy for developing Vietnam's semiconductor industry to 2030, with a vision to 2050. This is the first time Vietnam has had such a long-term strategy.

Mr. Nguyen Khac Lich said that Vietnam needs to master research and technology development in the field of semiconductors and electronics, if it does not want to become a processing country, in which it must promote geopolitical advantages, follow investment trends, focus on developing electricity and water infrastructure as well as have preferential and supportive mechanisms and policies...

In the immediate future, Vietnam needs a small-scale but high-tech chip manufacturing plant to meet domestic demand, participate in the global supply chain, and ensure security and national defense in the event of a supply chain disruption.

Recently, the National Assembly voted to pass a Resolution on piloting a number of special policies and mechanisms to create breakthroughs in the development of science, technology, innovation and digital transformation. The important point of this resolution is to allow financial support for the construction of the first factory to serve research, training and production of semiconductor chips.

Accordingly, Vietnamese enterprises investing in the construction of the first factory project selected to manufacture small-scale, high-tech chips to serve research, training, design, trial manufacturing, technology verification and production of specialized semiconductor chips in Vietnam at the request of the Prime Minister will be supported.

Specifically, the state will support 30% of the total project investment directly from the central budget in case the factory is put into production before December 31, 2030, with the total support amount not exceeding VND 10,000 billion. During the preparation and implementation of the project, an annual deduction of more than 10% but not exceeding 20% ​​of the enterprise's taxable income can be made for the enterprise's Science and Technology Development Fund to supplement the project. The total amount of deduction must not exceed the total investment of the project.

In addition, enterprises are allocated land without auctioning land use rights, without bidding to select investors to implement projects using land for this task. The Prime Minister decides to select enterprises to perform this task and decides on the specific level of support for that enterprise.

Sharing this issue with technology businesses, Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung said that this is the first time we have talked about the state joining hands and supporting investment projects for laboratories, so the first semiconductor chip factory is both research and small-scale production of less than 1 billion USD to support specialized chips.

FPT and Viettel have now entered the field of semiconductor chip design and production. Viettel has announced the successful design of the 5G DFE chip, the most complex chip in Southeast Asia to date. The chip processes 5G radio signals, with the ability to process 1,000 billion calculations per second. The radio processing chip and baseband will be an indispensable component in the hundreds of millions of base stations that the world needs to deploy the new generation telecommunications network.

“The semiconductor industry is a difficult industry, requiring in-depth knowledge in the fields of research, design, and production of electronic systems, information technology, and high-tech industry. These fields are also major tasks that Viettel has set for itself throughout its development process, and therefore Viettel has enough foundation to enter the semiconductor industry,” explained Dr. Nguyen Trung Kien, Deputy Head of the Semiconductor Technology Department of Viettel Group.

Major General Nguyen Dinh Chien, Deputy General Director of Viettel Group, shared: “Viettel identifies this as a long journey, requiring a reasonable and solid approach in both basic research and business. To develop the semiconductor industry, it is necessary to design and manufacture chips that meet the needs of businesses, domestic electronic systems, and national security needs. This is the foundation for developing advanced, new-generation chip technologies, and expanding supply abroad.”

According to Mr. Le Quang Dam, CEO of Marvell Technology Vietnam, this is a “once in a century” opportunity for Vietnamese semiconductors to develop amid the complicated geopolitical conflicts. Resolution 57 has set clear development orientations and goals for science and technology, including the microchip industry.

“Vietnam is facing a very good opportunity. This opportunity does not come by itself, we have to create it,” Mr. Le Quang Dam affirmed. “We have a clear strategy, with attention from the Government and Vietnamese or Vietnamese-origin engineers, talents in the industry or outside the industry, need to unite to create value for the country,” Mr. Le Quang Dam said.