(Photo: Reuters)

Alchip Technologies, Chinese Taipei's leading provider of AI chip design services, is expanding its R&D team into Vietnam, where it is planning to open its first office this year.  "Vietnam's promising pool of engineering talent and their strong work ethic make it a highly attractive option for us. We've been impressed by the dedication and commitment of Vietnamese engineers, who are eager to learn and contribute," President & CEO Johnny Shen said.

Also venturing into Vietnam in search of young engineers are GUC and Faraday Technology, affiliate chip design service providers for TSMC and UMC, the article said.

Likewise, South Korean companies are turning to Vietnam, partly to offset a brain drain in their home market. BOS Semiconductors entered Ho Chi Minh City in 2022 to set up a support team. But as executives jetted between Vietnam and South Korea, comparing the two sets of staff, the quality of Vietnamese engineers convinced them to upgrade the team. "They realized this could be a main R&D center," country manager Lim Hyung Jun said in an interview. "That was really unexpected”.

American giant Marvell described Vietnam as a "strategic location for the development of engineering talent." Marvell aims to increase its local headcount to about 500 by 2026.

US-based Synopsys, the world's top chip design tool maker, is among the most active to venture into Vietnam, where it currently has more than 500 employees across multiple design centres in several cities. Robert Li, Synopsys Vice President of Sales for Taiwan (China) and Southeast Asia, told Nikkei Asia that the high degree of interest among Vietnam's students and workforce to be trained in semiconductor engineering, coupled with the Government's funding and programs, are helping establish the country as a semiconductor talent hub.