Potential and opportunities for development of the semiconductor industry

Speaking at the seminar, managers, experts, scientists, and businesses all said that Bac Giang had great potential and opportunities to develop the semiconductor industry.

Chairman of FPT Semiconductor Joint Stock Company and Chairman of FPT IS Company (part of FPT Group) Tran Dang Hoa emphasized that Bac Giang had a prime geographical location, with the potential to become a cradle of semiconductor workers thanks to the leader's determination and willingness to accept new development opportunities, creating conditions to work with domestic and foreign partners. Bac Giang was a land of talents, among the top in the country in education with more than 1,000 national standard schools teaching STEM methods in high schools. Students being good at Math and STEM would be suitable to join the semiconductor industry in the future. In addition, Bac Giang's economy in the first quarter of 2024 ranked first in the country. The province had 3 large enterprises investing in semiconductors and 5 electronics industrial clusters. Therefore, Bac Giang had a solid foundation to develop the semiconductor industry, becoming a cradle for developing semiconductor labor resources for businesses and industrial zones.

According to Mr. Tran Dang Hoa, Bac Giang would quickly seize the opportunity to become a semiconductor city and one of the leading provinces in semiconductors such as preparing semiconductor chip human resources immediately to meet the demand from foreign enterprises to come to Bac Giang to open factories. Attract domestic and foreign investors to build new semiconductor factories in the area to localize the supply chain. Develop a supply chain and warehouse center, becoming a regional and global distribution network as of its favorable geographical location and open policy. In that process, FPT wished to take advantage of the strengths of the many years of cooperation history alongside Bac Giang to exploit the next potential of semiconductors and FPT would always accompany Bac Giang in the process of becoming semiconductor city.

Dr. Vo Xuan Hoai - Deputy Director of the National Innovation Center (NIC) said that Bac Giang was becoming an attractive destination for domestic and international investors, a production focus area for many large electronics industry groups in the world. Bac Giang was gradually transforming to become a potential area for investment activities in electronics and semiconductors from FDI capital sources.

Bac Giang province had a lot of potential to develop semiconductor technology, so promoting human resource development in the IC industry played a very important role. Investing and developing human resources in the semiconductor industry not only brought benefits to businesses and Bac Giang province, but also positively contributed to the sustainable development of Vietnam's socio-economic system in the future.

Associate Professor, PhD. Truong Viet Anh - Head of Science Department, Hanoi University of Science and Technology emphasized that the semiconductor industry required physical infrastructure, technological level, quality and large quantity of human resources to operate. Bac Giang was a locality with many potentials and opportunities to develop the semiconductor industry with favorable conditions in terms of geographical location, human resources, many industrial zones, and existing infrastructure. This would be an opportunity to develop a sustainable and diverse semiconductor industry for the overall development of the province.

Mr. Chung Won Seok - General Director of Hana Micron Vina Co., Ltd. (semiconductor manufacturing enterprise in Bac Giang) said that Hana Micron Group aimed to develop a new semiconductor industry ecosystem in Bac Giang. Vietnam. The group planned to increase production and cooperate with companies operating in semiconductor field to expand the company's business scope. Human resources recruited in Vietnam would account for 70% of the investor's total human resources.

To meet the need for labor resources in the semiconductor industry, recently, Bac Giang Vietnam - Korea College of Technology and Bac Giang Industrial Technical College had cooperated with businesses to train human resources. To be proactive in local human resources and be able to serve the Group, the enterprise coordinated with Bac Giang Vietnam - Korea College of Technology to organize a training class on semiconductors with the participation of nearly 100 students from industrial electronics, industrial electricity and information technology. The program took several months to complete, but currently the students had job placements. For the development cooperation program between businesses and Bac Giang Vietnam - Korea College of Technology, Bac Giang Industrial Technical College, each school had 40 students, businesses wanted to train awareness career from the school side. Enterprises could only select students wanting to work at Hana Micron, participate in internships and work long-term after graduation.

Solutions for developing human resources in the semiconductor industry

Regarding solutions for developing human resources in the semiconductor industry, Associate Professor, PhD. Truong Viet Anh - Head of Science Department, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, said that for localities in general and Bac Giang province in particular, creating policy mechanisms to attract investment, establish and promote the development of the local semiconductor industry was in the initial stages. Localities would consider and choose an appropriate period to have reasonable target plans for this industrial sector.

With Bac Giang's land resources and young human resources, attracting factories and focusing on production, packaging and testing like current localities was popular and appropriate. To develop the semiconductor industry in Bac Giang, the province would focus on identifying goals and needs for training and fostering human resources to be ready to receive and attract investment, serving the development of industrial zones. Training could be through cooperation and ordering with capable universities and types meeting needs from vocational training, practical training, training based on the need to supplement knowledge to specialized high level. In addition, the province could order short-term courses according to need, joint training courses combining practice at domestic and foreign enterprises to quickly strengthen human resources.

The province shall have a policy to attract people with appropriate qualifications from localities to work. Direct the province's universities and colleges on plans to improve training programs and training sectors to proactively provide long-term on-the-job training. Prioritize Vietnamese enterprises being able to master technology and localization, and have incentive mechanisms when investing and operating to gradually create opportunities to develop semiconductor products. Consider choosing companies from countries with developed semiconductor technology such as Korea, Taiwan, and China with similar starting points to learn from experience, connect to attract investment, and combine technology transfer, ensuring sustainability.

Dr. Vo Xuan Hoai - Deputy Director of the National Innovation Center (NIC) said that with the number of businesses increasing, the need for human resources for all stages in the semiconductor industry and sub-industries was changing rapidly, Bac Giang would quickly deploy a variety of solutions to develop human resources in the semiconductor industry to promptly meet the labor force needs of businesses in Bac Giang.

To do that, Bac Giang shall promote international cooperation, especially with countries and economies with strengths in the semiconductor industry such as the United States, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, etc. to access FDI investment sources and international cooperation in training. At the same time, improve the capacity of higher education institutions, train lecturers, and invest in facilities to promote research and development activities in the semiconductor industry. Pay attention to allocating funds to implement short-term practical training programs and projects, retraining, advanced training, and postgraduate training in the semiconductor industry for officials, lecturers, and students at universities, research institutes, businesses and economic organizations. In addition, the province shall proactively participate and strengthen cooperation with the state, universities, research institutes, innovation centers, and businesses to improve training effectiveness and create output for human resources. At the same time, cooperate with large technical universities in the country, especially in the Hanoi area, in training activities, attracting good lecturers and experts to participate in the training and teaching process at provincial training facilities.

Dr. Pham Vu Quoc Binh - Deputy Director General of the General Bureau of Vocational Education, Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs said that in order to effectively deploy human resource training to serve the development of the semiconductor industry, Bac Giang province shall direct functional units to implement a number of solutions to promote training and improve the quality of human resources to serve the development of the semiconductor industry.

In particular, it was determined that the training and preparation of human resources shall be one step ahead. Additional training and retraining would be tasks with attention in addition to new training. Organizing training and fostering to improve skills for workers already having basic skills to promptly participate in job positions in the semiconductor industry value chain would be an effective way to supplement the shortage of human resources in the current period.

Review and evaluate the current situation and capacity of organizing human resource training in related occupations and jobs serving the semiconductor industry. Promote the completion and implementation of effective cooperation mechanisms between the State, schools, and businesses in the locality and surrounding areas. Review and specify local mechanisms and policies in providing incentives and attracting investment from businesses in the field of supporting semiconductors, investing in equipment and technology for vocational education and training establishments. Participate in the process of training and fostering human resources.

Enhance information and propaganda so that businesses could see the benefits of engaging and participating in the training process. Build and effectively organize models that link vocational education with businesses. Strengthen the implementation of training forms ordered by businesses. Research and apply effectively the forms of on-the-job training, distance training, and guided self-study.

Increase investment in improving the capacity of training institutions and vocational education institutions. Promote linkage and cooperation with vocational education institutions in neighboring areas in human resource training. Complete and effectively deploy specific mechanisms and policies in attracting talents to work in the semiconductor industry. Attract good domestic and foreign researchers to teach at training institutions and vocational education institutions./.