Vietnam rolls out red carpet for US chip giant's investment: Minister

ABO/NDO- Vietnam boasts huge potential to develop semiconductor and AI industries, and pledges to create favourable conditions for NVIDIA corporation, a leading chip producer in the US, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung said on December 11.

At a roundtable discussion on the semiconductor industry and AI development trends and opportunities for Vietnam, Dung suggested NVIDIA enhance research and development (R&D) activities, carry out semiconductor and AI projects in Vietnam, and build R&D centres and labs at the National Innovation Centre (NIC), and high-tech parks.

Dung expressed his hope that NVIDIA will facilitate conditions for Vietnamese engineers to engage in internships and work at the corporation, help Vietnam develop incubators for semiconductor firms, while supporting the country to get access to and implement projects under the US’s fund for semiconductor production and development activities.

President and CEO of the US chip giant Jensen Huang (third, right) visits Vietnam's largest innovation space at the Vietnam National Innovation Centre in Hoa Lac Hi-tech Park in Hanoi. (Photo: VNA).

Dung recommended NVIDIA expand cooperative and investment projects in Vietnam and partner with Vietnamese companies to develop a supporting ecosystem for the Southeast Asian country’s semiconductor and AI industries. It can also join hands with the NIC to carry out a project on semiconductor human resources development until 2030, and cooperate with Vietnam’s education establishments to implement human resources training programmes.

Dung stressed that a sound environment and close coordination between government agencies and businesses have an important role to play in developing the spearhead industries and making contributions to improving the competitive edge as well as making Vietnam a leading innovation centre in the region.

For his part, President and CEO of the US chip giant Jensen Huang spoke highly of Vietnam’s potential and opportunities to branch out its semiconductor and AI industries, especially the country’s human resources in the fields.

Vietnam is prepared for the AI development wave, and it is time for both sides to set up strategic relations in the fields, he said, adding NVIDIA will expand its existing partnership with Vietnam, making the country its second homeland.

According to Jensen Huang, it is necessary for the country to encourage new generations to engage in AI as well as improve the skills of its human resources, and develop 1 million AI experts.

NVIDIA stands ready to cooperate with Vietnam to improve its human resources capacity, and AI infrastructure, he stressed.

Earlier, Jensen Huang had a meeting with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, during which he said NVIDIA wishes to establish a base in Vietnam to attract talents in the fields.

NVIDIA is a multinational corporation specialising in the production of innovative graphics processing units (GPUs), application programming interfaces (APIs) for data science and high-performance computing, and system on chip units (SoCs) for mobile computing and the automotive market.

The company has more than 27,000 employees, and recently recorded a revenue of nearly 27 billion USD.

With the AI fever gripping across the globe, NVIDIA has plans to triple its AI production for 2024.

(Source: NDO)