After months of preparation, the Ministry of Science and Technology officially launched the National Chip Prototyping Support Center (VNMPW/CC) in late June.
The center is the country's first national-level facility dedicated to supporting semiconductor chip prototyping. It will connect domestic chip research and design demand with the global semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem, making Vietnam one of the few countries in Southeast Asia with national-level infrastructure for semiconductor chip prototyping.
In the digital era, semiconductor chips are not merely electronic components but the foundation of most strategic technologies, including artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, 5G, the Internet of Things, robotics, automation, electric vehicles, smart devices, defense, security and national digital infrastructure.
Semiconductors have become a key measure of a country's technological capability, manufacturing capacity, innovation strength and level of strategic technological self-reliance.
However, the high cost of chip prototyping, the lack of a coordinating body and limited support mechanisms for prototype fabrication, testing and post-production evaluation have remained major obstacles for Vietnam's integrated circuit design community.
Against this backdrop, VNMPW/CC was established to help remove bottlenecks in chip prototyping by serving as a bridge between chip design, prototype fabrication, testing, evaluation and the gradual commercialization of semiconductor products.
Through the Multi-Project Wafer model, a mechanism that combines multiple chip designs into a single fabrication run to reduce costs, VNMPW/CC is expected to shorten product development cycles, lower prototyping costs and promote the development of "Make in Vietnam" semiconductor chips.
Together with major semiconductor projects being developed by Viettel and FPT, VNMPW/CC is expected to gradually strengthen the country's strategic technological self-reliance and position Vietnam as an important link in the global semiconductor supply chain, in line with the objectives of the Semiconductor Industry Development Strategy through 2030, with a vision to 2050.
