A memorandum of understanding for co-operating in developing HCM City's semiconductor industry was signed by Vietnamese and Japanese partners last Saturday.

HCM CITY (Biz Hub)— A memorandum of understanding for co-operating in developing HCM City's semiconductor industry was signed by Vietnamese and Japanese partners last Saturday.

The MoU was signed by the HCM City Semi-conductor Industry Association (HSIA) and Kyushu Semiconductor Industries&Electronics Technology Innovation Association (SIIQ); and by HCM City's IC Design Research&Education Centre (ICDREC) and Japan's university-based venture company Radrix Co. Ltd.

The agreement allows SIIQ and HSIA to exchange information, and staff; to help the two companies' subsidiaries towards establishing comprehensive co-operation in developing the semiconductor industry, and also promote Japanese investment in it.

The MoU will help ICDREC and RADRIX to further implement the Design Project that has been signed between the two sides.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, deputy Chairman of HCM City People's Committee, Le Manh Ha, said the semiconductor industry had been developing in the city for over a decade.

His administration wanted to develop HCM City into the nation's semiconductor hub, Ha said.

The MoU will help ICDREC and RADRIX to further implement the Design Project that has been signed between the two sides.— Photos Le My

Ngo Duc Hoang, Director of ICDREC, spoke about the cooperation between HSIA, ICDREC and SIIQ, RADRIX. He noted that representatives of Kyushu Semi-conductor and Electronics Association, Kyushu Department of Economy – Trade – Industry, and the Kyushu Economic Research Centre were among a delegation of Japanese chip and other industries who visited HCM City's Sai Gon Hi-tech Park in mid-October.

During a visit to ICDREC, the visitors discussed development and training of human resources for chip designing and manufacturing as well as a plan to build a Design House.

The Japanese delegation's visit to HCM City followed the Viet Nam Semiconductor Strategy Summit in September that gathered executives from the world's leading microelectronics companies as well as representatives of the Vietnamese government, local industry, academia and research organisations.

During the summit, which was organised by the global industry association serving the nano-and micro-electronic manufacturing supply chains, delegates said that the semiconductor industry was developing strongly in the Asia-Pacific region, especially in emerging markets like Viet Nam.

They said the local market was growing fast thanks to strong consumption of smartphones, TV sets, tablets, set-top boxes and electronic equipment.

The strong tendency to use high-tech devices was likely to boost semiconductor sales in the coming years, they added. — VNS