Samsung Vietnam early this month coordinated with the National Innovation Centre (NIC) to launch a technology talent development programme called Samsung Innovation Campus 2023-2024 at the NIC Hoa Lac.

The move is part of an MoU on implementing high-tech education and development projects for the young, between Samsung Vietnam and the NIC, signed in October 2023 to foster human resources in technology to turn Vietnam into an innovation destination.

Participating in these training classes, students have the opportunity to meet engineers working at Samsung’s research and development (R&D) centre to gain more career guidance related to IT field. After participating in the programme, students with excellent achievements will have the opportunity to intern and work at Samsung’s R&D centre in Hanoi.

It is well documented that Vietnam is striving for thousands of new engineers for semiconductors, Photo: Le Toan

Choi Joo Ho, CEO of Samsung Vietnam, said, “The current environment brings great opportunities for Vietnamese young people. For Vietnamese youth to develop into technological talents and maximise their abilities, it is necessary to have the cooperation and active support of the government, businesses and training institutions.”

Currently, more than 50 semiconductor manufacturers are operating in Vietnam, including Intel, Amkor, Hana Micron, Ampere, Marvell, Cadence, Renesas, and Synopsys. Technology giants such as Hana Micron, Synopsys, Siemens, and Intel have signed agreements with local authorities and universities to train the labour force in chips and semiconductor sectors.

US semiconductor maker Synopsys will share training textbooks and licence the use of chip design tools and software for VNU-Ho Chi Minh students. It will receive students for internships and introduce job opportunities at domestic and foreign businesses for semiconductor engineers graduating from this school.

Synopsys opened its first office in the country in 2016 and now has four offices in Ho Chi Minh City and the central city of Danang. Of 500 employees, approximately 400 are in R&D.

Meanwhile, at the Hana Micron Vina semiconductor plant in the northern province of Bac Giang, the company has received more than 110 internships from the province’s colleges since the start of 2023. At present, over 60 of them are working at the plant.

Chung Won Seok, general director of Hana Micron Vina, said, “The company wants to take advantage of the local manpower, and so we signed joint contracts with colleges in the province to train the labour force for outsourced semiconductor assembly and testing or back-end manufacturing. Hana Micron targets to invest long-term in Vietnam. The recruitment demand is always available.”

Vietnam will spend over $1 billion by 2030 to develop a well-prepared workforce for the semiconductor industry, with over $700 million coming from the state budget.

A draft plan for training 50,000 engineers for the semiconductor industry has been developed by the Ministry of Planning and Investment. Under which, there will be 15,000 chip designers and 35,000 engineers in semiconductor-tied sectors, with at least 5,000 having AI expertise. There will also be some 1,500 world-level lecturers.

Vietnam currently has 160 of its 240 universities boasting specialisation relating to technical training. These universities can convert these technical specifications to chip labour. In addition, there are currently 35 training facilities with specialisation related to chips and semiconductors.

“This will be an important basis for ministries, central authorities, institutes, and businesses to collaborate to implement training programmes, including classes for students and intensive and advanced training courses for engineers so that Vietnam can supply the high-quality labour resources for the chips and semiconductor sector as fast as possible and as much as possible,” said Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc.

To reach these targets, the country will need initial support from the government and resources to be mobilised through public-private partnerships for investment in scholarships, infrastructure, training, R&D centres, and incubators, added Ngoc.