FPT IS Chairman: “AI and Semiconductors will be an open door for Vietnamese youth”

Within the framework of Vietnam Innovation Day 2024, FPT demonstrated its Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Semiconductor ecosystems – its two strategic technologies. At the event, Mr. Tran Dang Hoa, Chairman of FPT IS and Chairman of FPT Semiconductor, made strategic proposals in human resources development for Vietnam to quickly catch the wave of AI and Semiconductors. 

The workshop on Human Resources Development for the Semiconductor Industry by 2030 within the framework of Vietnam Innovation Day 2024

Vietnam Innovation Day 2024, chaired by the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment, is a technology and innovation forum where presentations and group discussion by experts about Vietnam’s opportunities and challenges in AI and Semiconductors as well as in high technology were given. 

Innovation – The solution for Vietnam to take the lead in the new wave of technology and reach new heights of development 

In his speech at the event, the Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh stated that, today’s world is changing rapidly. The explosive development of science and technology and the fourth industrial revolution have led to profound changes with great impacts and influences on a global scale, as well as on each country and region. According to the Prime Minister, innovation must be a strategic choice, an objective requirement, a key task, and a top priority for rapid and sustainable industrialization, modernization, and development.

Addressing at the workshop, the Vietnamese Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung emphasized that, Vietnam is currently reaching its crucial milestone where it prepares to enter a new era – the era of national growth. Accordingly, the country will focus on digital transformation, green transformation, science and technology development, and innovation to create breakthroughs in productivity, quality, and heighten the competitiveness of the economy.

Especially, boosting cooperation in the semiconductor and artificial intelligence industries with developed countries and economies in the world will be one of the focal point in Vietnam’s strategy. This will, as a result, require expansion of collaboration with prestigious semiconductors and artificial intelligence partners around the world.

Vietnamese people are gradually gaining a foothold in the AI and Semiconductors wave

Mr. Tran Dang Hoa, Chairman of FPT IS and Chairman of FPT Semiconductor, speaking at the workshop

At the Workshop “International Cooperation in Developing Human Resources for Microchip Design”, Mr. Tran Dang Hoa, Chairman of FPT IS and Chairman of FPT Semiconductor, gave a presentation on “Human Resources Training and Development for AI and Semiconductors Industries – Rising from Opportunities to Solve Global Challenges”. Mr. Hoa commented that AI and Semiconductors are extraordinarily surging, especially since the birth of Gen AI.

“With an average growth rate of 30-40%, AI and Semiconductors industry scale is expected to hit the trillion USD revenue milestone by 2030. Vietnamese people’s competitive edges lie in both of these fields, which is very good news for us.” Mr. Hoa affirmed.

Although entering these two industries much later than others, Vietnam’s main advantages lay on its politics, geography, Government support strategies and policies, and foreign investment opportunities such as the US Chips Act. Above all, the country possesses a young workforce that is good at STEM. This opens up opportunities for Vietnam – the next chopstick-using country – to rise to the forefront of the wave following semiconductor powerhouses like Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and others.  

Considerable challenges, however, are facing human resources development for the industry. Of which, professional engineers shortage emerges as the most significant issue. The current limited number of AI and semiconductor engineers is seriously inadequate for the rapid growth needs of the market. As a result, policies on high-quality human resources attraction and training are highly required from the Vietnamese Government.

Another bottleneck is that training programs have not kept up with the pace of technological growth, which requires the country’s State management levels to develop new and more effective training programs and standards, and incorporate them into all levels of education. This, in turn, requires a force of teachers with practical experience.

To remove this blockage, Mr. Hoa proposed a workforce development strategy for the semiconductors sector. The strategy focuses on reforming the current curriculum to meet the industry’s requirements, and eliminate the gap between study and practice. Specifically, students need to be offered technology and language training to quickly adapt to their jobs after graduation and equipped with skills that fit customers’ and international standards. FPT has established a Semiconductor faculty, providing both college level and short-term training programs, and cooperated with 20 leading universities in the US, Korea, Taiwan, and others, to provide student exchange programs. Additionally, the tech corporation has established R&D centers in Quy Nhon and Da Nang for technology research. These effort aims to build a potential market with comprehensive advantages in Vietnam, especially in terms of qualified and large-scale manpower. 

“FPT has quickly seized opportunities emerged from the Internet, Mobile, and Cloud. Our next bet will be put on Semiconductors and AI. We hope to join hands with other businesses for faster growth and co-build a comprehensive technology ecosystem. I strongly believe that AI and Semiconductors will be an open door for Vietnamese youth, and enable them to co-design chips and co-create new products with FPT, assisting Vietnam in becoming the next chopstick-using country to reach new heights of development,” Mr. Hoa pledged. 

“Made by FPT” ecosystem accompanies Vietnam to conquer new technology wave 

At the event, FPT set up a exhibition booth themed “Leading Innovation with AI & Semiconductors” which demonstrated its AI and Semiconductor ecosystems. For semiconductors, the FPT CHIP INSIDE ecosystem has been developed to be a platform for most of people’s daily used electronic devices. The “heart” of these devices is the Power Management Integrated Circuit (PMIC), which plays a critical role in device power management and optimization, ensuring their high performance and power saving. Leveraging FPT CHIP INSIDE, FPT hopes to support Vietnam’s integration into the global chip supply chain, making “Made in Vietnam” chips the next “golden grain” of the S-shaped country.

The exhibition booth also introduced akaBot, an Intelligent Automation Platform developed by FPT IS and listed in the Top 4 Innovative Solutions at Vietnam Innovation Challenge 2023 (VIC 2023). A few months after being named as the “Innovation Star” at VIC 2023, akaBot’s development has been significantly enhanced with the adoption of AI, empowering the platform to win international recognition: FPT IS’s first product that obtained a patent for Machine Learning technology by the US; listed in the Everest Group’s PEAK Matrix® report – Top 3 most rigorous technology product rankings in the world.

Apart from the FPT Semiconductor ecosystem, FPT’s exhibition booth also showed the company’s AI ecosystem for businesses, tailored to enabling factories’ smart operation, personalizing training programs, optimizing business processes, analyzing video data, and supporting enterprises of diverse fields in preparation and completion of sustainable development reports.