Cadence assists Vietnam’s semiconductor sector development

California-headquartered Cadence Design Systems Inc. signed a memorandum of understanding with Ho Chi Minh City’s Saigon High-Tech Park (SHTP) on Tuesday on collaboration to foster electronic design expertise and advance the semiconductor industry in Vietnam.

Via the partnership, Cadence, a U.S. leading computational software firm, expects to help empower the next generation of chip designers in Vietnam, which is on the way to becoming a new semiconductor hub in Southeast Asia.

Cadence will provide its integrated circuit (IC) design software tools and relevant training programs to universities in HCMC through the Cadence Academic Network.

Michael Shih, corporate vice president of sales for Asia Pacific and Japan of Cadence, told the MOU signing ceremony: “By providing access to our software tools, we aim to equip the next generation of engineers with the skills they need to contribute to the growth of the high-tech industry in Vietnam.”

The universities involved in the Cadence-SHTP partnership are ones with established engineering departments and can provide access to a valuable talent pool for the development of chip design in the south.

The partnership is set to help the higher-education students gain practical experience in chip design and verification, providing them with a channel to learn how to solve complex technical challenges when creating ICs, packages, printed circuit boards, and complete systems.

“This collaboration will help enable the students to get access to the latest technology and methodologies in IC and system design and acquire practical experience that will help them succeed in the high-tech industry,” Nguyen Anh Thi, head of the SHTP management board, said at the ceremony.

“This collaboration will contribute significantly to strengthening the capability of SHTP Chip Design Center launched last October and therefore fostering the development of Vietnam’s semiconductor industry.”

The SHTP chip facility has a chip design lab as its first important unit of the center. The lab is a move to implement an agreement signed in late August 2022 between the SHTP and Synopsys, a major American chip software firm.

Under the deal, Synopsys provides software licenses to academies and schools, conducts training courses in chip design for lecturers, and holds high-level training courses on chip design.

At the opening time, the chip design center housed two semiconductor firms – Microchip Technology (Vietnam) and SNST & Finger Vina Co.

American chip vendor Marvell Technology announced in mid-May it will establish a world-class design center in HCMC. The facility will house advanced semiconductor engineering and will be a top technology workplace for those looking to upgrade their skills and careers.

Marvell said it intended to invest in the development of critical technical skills in the country through a newly formed scholarship program in order to meet the talent requirements of its new Vietnam design center.

Vietnam has risen as the third largest chip exporter to the U.S., behind Malaysia and Taiwan, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Information and Communications. In February 2023, its semiconductor exports to the U.S. reached $562.5 million, up from $321.7 million in February 2022.

In printed circuit board(PCB) production, Taiwan PCB Techvest (TPT), which makes and supplies double-sided and multi-layer PCBs, plans to build its second manufacturing facility in Vietnam while more Taiwanese companies are shifting production to the country from China.

TPT has so far invested $30 million in Vietnam, operating its first PCB plant in the Thanh Liem Industrial Park in Thanh Liem district, Ha Nam province in northern Vietnam.