Vietnam and the semiconductor race: For businesses to boldly enter the playing field

Need to set up a venture capital fund

Speaking with Tien Phong, a leader of the Military Industry and Telecommunications Group (Viettel) said that up to now, Viettel has researched and had initial achievements in a number of high-tech fields such as: mastering and developing 5G Make in Vietnam (Viettel) chips, developing the new generation electronics industry in parallel with the semiconductor industry...

Accordingly, over the past time, the Group has designed and mastered the core technologies of two important chips of the 5G radio station, DFE and RFIC, with the ability to calculate about 1,000 billion calculations per second (excluding the chip casting part).

The semiconductor industry will be Viettel's new growth pillar, supporting Viettel's other industries (Electricity-Electronics, Automation, Telecommunications and Information Technology) to master at the deepest level, ensuring autonomy, security and creating export opportunities.

Viettel representative also said that the Group has been assigned to report to the Ministry of National Defense on the project to build a small and medium-sized chip manufacturing plant. With Resolution 57 of the Politburo, there will be more practical mechanisms and policies for the Group and other enterprises to participate more in the stages of the semiconductor industry such as building factories to manufacture, design, and package chip products, not only serving domestically but also globally.

Accordingly, Viettel has a chip development strategy for the period 2020 - 2030, then 2030-2040, along with a roadmap for chip development (including chips for telecommunications network infrastructure, AI processing chips at the edge and chips for military equipment), and also highly versatile products (both civilian and military).

Regarding technology-related development strategy, Viettel has been investing in design tools, labs, applying new technologies, and smarter algorithms to increase the performance and efficiency of chips.

“Regarding human resources, Viettel aims to have 1,000 semiconductor engineers by 2030, including 700 design staff and 300 production staff. To ensure the quality of the engineering team, Viettel is building semiconductor training programs,” said Viettel leaders.

According to Viettel's leader, Vietnam's semiconductor industry is developing according to the set plan. The Government and ministries need to soon have breakthrough mechanisms, policies and financial solutions to support businesses to participate more deeply in the high-tech sector.

Accordingly, it is necessary to issue guidelines for the formation of venture capital funds and evaluation mechanisms to help businesses boldly invest and develop new technologies. This is an important issue for businesses when investing in semiconductors. Resolution 57 itself also sets out tasks and solutions on having an open approach, applying creativity, allowing pilots for new practical problems; accepting risks, risky investments and delays in scientific research, technology development, and innovation.

“This is a breakthrough policy for state-owned enterprises like Viettel to boldly invest in experimental research, master and apply new technologies and new business models with high risks and low success rates. But if successful, there will be great profits, creating a breakthrough for the business,” he emphasized.

“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. DFE chips are just the beginning. With the technologies it has mastered, Viettel continues to develop more complex chips, including baseband processing chips - the most complex chip in the 5G telecommunications equipment ecosystem and AI processing chips at the edge”. Viettel Deputy General Director Nguyen Dinh Chien

According to Viettel representative, Resolution 57 mentioned the solution of forming a strategic industrial development investment fund to promote research, development, application and transfer of strategic technologies. Viettel hopes to soon form and guide the use of this fund so that enterprises have more resources, promptly implement the tasks set out in national strategies, focusing on technology research projects that play a fundamental and comprehensive role, such as semiconductor technology, low-altitude satellites, dual-use defense industry... avoiding scattered and fragmented allocation.

“Viettel proposes that the State soon issue specific regulations for businesses operating in Vietnam in encouraging the purchase and prioritizing the use of high-tech products manufactured by Vietnamese enterprises.

Specifically in the semiconductor sector, there are policy mechanisms for foreign enterprises providing electronic equipment to coordinate the use of Vietnamese chips, creating output for the Vietnamese semiconductor chip industry," he emphasized.

Invest heavily in human resources and R&D

Speaking to Tien Phong reporter, FPT leader said that the Group started developing the semiconductor sector 10 years ago. In March 2022, FPT Semiconductor Joint Stock Company (FPT Semiconductor) was established to focus on the semiconductor sector, continuing the semiconductor dream of many generations in pioneering the development of Make in Vietnam chips.

According to this person, up to now FPT has accumulated and realized a number of important milestones.

According to semiconductor industry experts, currently, world powers such as the US, Japan, South Korea and China all consider the development of the semiconductor industry an important part of their economic development strategy as well as national security. What Vietnam needs to do now is to quickly build a self-sufficient technology ecosystem and take advantage of opportunities to rise in this important field of the future.

Specifically, the Group has launched the first generation of FPT products - the Power Management IC chip product line. PMIC is considered the heart of a system, providing energy from the battery to the entire system, like the heart pumps blood throughout the body.

The Group launched the first line of microchips applied in Internet of Things (IoT) products in the medical field with the criteria "Chip Make in Vietnam, Made by FPT" in 2022, marking FPT's first step forward in the semiconductor industry and bringing "Make in Vietnam" products to the world. This is considered a breakthrough in the journey to affirm Vietnamese intelligence.

"FPT currently has about 200 design engineers working with about 30 customers in three countries: Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam, and plans to train 10,000 semiconductor personnel by 2030," he said, adding that FPT has so far received orders for 70 million chips in 2024 and 2025 for customers in Taiwan (China), South Korea and Japan in the fields of medical equipment and many electronic applications.

This person also said that to implement the semiconductor strategy, in 2024, FPT signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Department of Information and Communications, Da Nang City in researching and developing technology solutions, training human resources, granting scholarships and job opportunities for students majoring in semiconductor microchips and artificial intelligence from training institutions in Da Nang City.

In addition to the continuing development of microchip design in Da Nang, FPT has opened new areas of advanced packaging and ATE testing in high-tech zones and duty-free zones in Da Nang.