(Dan Tri) – Many American semiconductor companies consider Vietnam a potential investment destination, but there are still two bottlenecks: high-quality human resources and renewable power sources, according to US Deputy Secretary of State Jose Fernandez.
US Deputy Secretary of State Jose Fernandez at an event on the morning of January 26 in Hanoi (Photo: Thanh Dong).
`Semiconductor chips are one of the highlights of my visit to Vietnam this time. And it holds a lot of promise,` Deputy Minister Fernandez said during a press meeting on the afternoon of January 26 in Hanoi.
Cooperation on semiconductor chips is included in the Joint Statement of Vietnam and the US when the two countries upgrade relations in September 2023.
However, Mr. Fernandez – US Deputy Secretary of State in charge of Economic Growth, Energy and Environment – noted that the US cannot `order` its companies to invest in Vietnam.
`Those companies have many options. Therefore, my message to my colleagues in Vietnam: Let’s seize this moment in a competitive context,` said the US Deputy Secretary.
Manpower problem
`There are companies that are telling us that they want to invest in Vietnam but are having difficulty finding qualified human resources,` Mr. Fernandez said, adding that not only Vietnam but the US also have a situation.
Lack of human resources is one of the obstacles on the journey to building the position of Vietnam’s semiconductor industry.
The country’s demand for human resources in the semiconductor industry is 5,000-10,000 engineers/year, but the ability to meet it is less than 20%, Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung said in October 2023,
Deputy Minister Fernandez on January 26 reaffirmed the US commitment to help Vietnam train 50,000 engineers in the coming years, through support from the fund established by the US CHIPS Act.
The US has asked the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to research and make recommendations on how to improve semiconductor human resources in Vietnam.
`In the next 1-2 months, we will receive recommendations from the OECD,` Mr. Fernandez said.
Semiconductor chips on a production line at a factory in the High-Tech Industrial Park in Thailand.
Both ways are convenient
Another bottleneck for semiconductor companies wanting to invest in Vietnam is clean energy.
`Currently there are 15 semiconductor companies telling us that they are ready to invest $8 billion in Vietnam,` Mr. Fernandez said.
Many large US semiconductor companies have made environmental commitments, such as Intel announcing it will use 100% renewable energy globally by 2030. AMD also committed that 80% of the electricity that its suppliers
Not only American corporations and the semiconductor industry, `green` production is becoming a goal that multinational enterprises in many countries are aiming for.
`This is an opportunity to do two things at the same time, both of which are beneficial to the Vietnamese people. That is to expand the semiconductor industry and increase the availability of clean energy in Vietnam,`