Vietnam only has 18 months to seize the “golden opportunity” with the global semiconductor industry

At any cost, the world cannot lack chips

Information at the Conference on developing human resources for the semiconductor industry, on the afternoon of April 24, Chairman of FPT Group Truong Gia Binh said: In a recent meeting with the US Ambassador, Japanese Ambassador, and Singapore Ambassador , the parties pointed out, Vietnam has 18 months to seize the opportunity with the global semiconductor industry. Because at all costs, the world cannot lack chips.

“We must calculate the 18-month period by approaching and breaking through” – Chairman of FPT Group Truong Gia Binh emphasized and pointed out: Mr. Jensen Huang – CEO of NVIDIA, when coming to Vietnam, said: Vietnam is the only country that can fully participate in all stages of the semiconductor chain. In 18 months, we must show: Vietnam not only has the opportunity but is also committed to that opportunity.

The commitment is the same as Minister Nguyen Manh Hung said: Vietnam must be a human resource hub. So how to become a human resources hub immediately? Faced with the huge demand for this industry, it is necessary to prove that Vietnam has students willing to study.

Suggest contributions to the Project to make the human resources we create truly valuable and attract good opportunities for Vietnam, said Mr. Hung Tran, CEO of Got It, Innovation Center Creativity The country has begun to build a network of Vietnamese experts abroad. This is a very smart short-term strategy.

Besides, according to Mr. Hung Tran, there needs to be a long-term training program. There must be training programs for students from primary and secondary levels. When you want to have good people, engineers who can design, you must have good students from an early age, not until they are young. I say they have just begun their training.

“We are ready to cooperate with the Government and cooperate with domestic units so that Vietnam can take advantage of these opportunities. We cannot wait forever but must proceed immediately. If there are specific tasks, , the Vietnamese team working abroad is very willing to cooperate to take advantage of this opportunity.” – Got It CEO said.

Sharing more about the issue of human resources for the semiconductor industry, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son said: “For the education and training industry, we determine that this is a great responsibility and mission of the industry, and an opportunity to develop universities.”

Currently, in universities, two human resource training groups in the fields of electronics, telecommunications and information technology have 131,000 students training at bachelor’s and engineering levels, and 5,500 at master’s level. and has more than 400 graduate students. This is a very important number, showing that Vietnam has a foundation.

“If we coordinate well, this number will bring about a fairly quick breakthrough. In the immediate future, based on this number of human resources, we can meet the human resource needs of FDI enterprises. Because Therefore, switching to a short-term model is appropriate and can quickly provide the resources that businesses need.” – Minister Nguyen Kim Son pointed out.

However, according to Mr. Nguyen Kim Son, this number is only potential, but reality is very variable. Because of the number of human resources trained in the field of electronics, some have not graduated, but in their final year they have been accepted by businesses to work.

6 key factors driving increased quantity and quality in the semiconductor industry

Mr. Nguyen Kim Son said that, in addition to short-term training, long-term formal training in the right industry must also be considered. At the same time, it must also take into account the real labor needs of businesses. If calculated incorrectly, it will lead to mismatch between supply and demand.

On the other hand, in-depth and long-term formal training in the field of IC design must take into account long-term, national goals.

The work that the education and training sector has been implementing is organizing many seminars and forums, connecting networks of higher education institutions to cooperate with businesses, and seek international partners…

At this time, universities have two advantages. These are universities that have entered a stage of high autonomy, so the opening of majors and cooperation with international partners makes the schools operate dynamically.

From 2022 up to now, many universities have signed with many international partners and countries to exchange experts. The dynamism and autonomy of universities is a huge advantage at this time.

In particular, not only public universities, but also non-public universities participate. This is a great contribution to the training of high quality human resources.

In addition, the Ministry of Education and Training has connected with corporations and domestic and international organizations, and the Ministry of Education and Training itself (under the direction of the Prime Minister) is completing and upcoming submission. The Prime Minister projects on developing high-quality technical and technological human resources, including the field of semiconductor chips.

The Ministry is also assigned to design and build human resources in other fields such as biotechnology, materials, new fuels… In this project, the Ministry will solve the overall problem like some scientists. stated that there is a need for laboratories that are both basic and specialized interdisciplinary.

“In this regard, we are considering equipment so that this system must serve many high-tech fields as a whole, not just one field.” – Mr. Nguyen Kim Son said.

The Ministry is also directing higher education institutions to actively enroll students in semiconductor circuit design for this 2024 school year. Currently, universities plan to enroll 4,000 engineers, 750 masters, 60 graduate students and are expected to provide training to convert at least 1,700 people.

According to recommendations of experts and human resources involved in the field of semiconductor ICs, engineer qualifications are only the first step. Designing semiconductor circuits requires a master’s degree and higher.

Delegates attending the conference. – Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

We are also prioritizing lecturers to pursue doctoral degrees in the field of semiconductor ICs. And currently, schools have sent more than 100 lecturers to study at foreign educational institutions to improve their knowledge in this field.

It can be said that at this time, universities have participated proactively, actively, willingly, with a very high spirit of determination.

In the coming time, the Ministry of Education and Training proposes 6 key factors to promote increasing the quantity and quality of training in this field. That is, there will be many good students studying this field; Training programs and document resources will be updated regularly and modernly; have enough resources of highly qualified and skilled lecturers; There are enough modern practical laboratory systems for all subjects; There is effective cooperation between businesses and foreign universities to help improve the practicality of students’ learning process; Linking training between scientific research and other innovations.

The Ministry of Education and Training will focus on proposing to build breakthrough mechanisms and policies, talent training programs, and key investment programs. If these programs are approved, it will create a fundamental surge in quantity and improve quality in training this human resource.