Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Anh Thi, head of the management board of the Saigon Hi-Tech Park in Ho Chi Minh City, has hinted at setting up a microchip development fund worth US$5 million to train 50,000 engineers nationwide.

The fund is aimed at easing a potential dearth of workers facing the microchip industry in the future.

Thi made the suggestion at a scientific workshop held at the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies on Wednesday.

The global chip and semiconductor sector has recorded a 14-percent growth rate each year since 2021, and it is projected to generate $1 trillion in revenue in 2030. 

Also, the industry is expected to need an additional one million employees by 2030.

Most countries are lacking in workers for the industry, with the United States in need of 55,000 employees to expand its chip sector.

Europe, China, and South Korea need 40,000, 55,000, and 50,000 semiconductor workers, respectively.

Vietnam aims to become an integrated circuit design hub in the region and the world, and to be ready to churn out around 50,000 engineers, so the plan to train employees for the sector is feasible, Thi said.

The city should scale up its training operations for the chip and semiconductor industry, while building educational facilities to offer students a bachelor’s degree and doctorate in the sector.

To become an integrated circuit design center in Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City should train nearly 40,000 engineers from now until 2030, equivalent to some 6,000 engineers a year.

As such, the city needs to establish a microchip development fund to accomplish this goal, he added.

Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Labor, War Invalids, and Social Affairs Le Van Thinh said that the department was tasked with implementing a project to strengthen the city’s workforce by 2030.

Therefore, the city is totally able to set up the fund, Thi affirmed.

“Establishing a microchip development fund is appropriate to help the economy thrive,” he said.

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