Yongin Mayor Lee Sang-il Visits Vietnam Semiconductor R&D Center to Explore Cooperation

[News S = Reporter Cheon Ui-hyun] On the 5th (local time), Yongin Special City Mayor Lee Sang-il visited the FPT High-tech and Semiconductor Research & Development (R&D) Center to examine Vietnam's semiconductor industry ecosystem and explore cooperation plans with Yongin, where the world's largest semiconductor projects are underway.

Mayor Lee visited the FPT High-tech and Semiconductor R&D Center located in Da Nang Second Software Park on that day and met with FPT Group officials including Nguyen Cao Thanh, a field manager at FPT Semiconductor.

The discussion with FPT Group officials was attended by a city and municipal assembly delegation including Mayor Lee Sang-il, City Council Chairman Jang Jeong-soon, City Council Autonomous Administration Committee Chairwoman Shin Na-yeon, and City Councilor Kang Young-woong.

The FPT High-tech and Semiconductor R&D Center is a research institute of FPT Group, Vietnam's largest information and communications technology (ICT) company.

FPT Group established FPT Semiconductor, a fabless semiconductor design company, in 2022, and opened a research institute in Da Nang's advanced industrial cluster, the Second Software Park, in March of last year.

The mayor heard explanations about FPT Group and Da Nang's semiconductor and artificial intelligence (AI) promotion strategies during the discussion and inspected related facilities.

The mayor also visited the 'Da Nang Semiconductor and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Center' (DSAC) under Vietnam's Ministry of Science and Technology, located within Da Nang Second Software Park, and received briefings on Vietnam's advanced industry strategy.

The mayor then moved to the FPT Software Complex, where approximately 7,000 employees work, listened to explanations about FPT Group's ICT technological capabilities, and toured the facilities. FPT has built four buildings of employee housing in the area and operates primary, middle, and high schools as well as a university.

Mayor Lee Sang-il said, "I heard that FPT Group is the largest and fastest-growing company in Vietnam's ICT sector and is actively pursuing cooperation with Korean companies." He added, "Yongin is home to Samsung Electronics' Giheung Campus, where Korea first produced semiconductors 43 years ago. Yongin will house a total of 10 fabs, including 6 Samsung Electronics semiconductor fabs and 4 SK Hynix fabs, and many semiconductor materials, components, and equipment companies will also relocate there. I believe opportunities for FPT Group to cooperate with Yongin companies will expand."

The mayor stated, "FPT plans to make significant investments in semiconductor chip testing and packaging, and if they wish to cooperate with Yongin's semiconductor-related companies, Yongin City will provide assistance to facilitate such cooperation."

On March 21 of last year, FPT Group CEO Nguyen Van Khoa and 10 other executives visited Yongin and met with city officials including First Vice Mayor Ryu Gwang-yeol at Yongin City Hall's video conference room to discuss cooperation methods with Yongin companies.

On the 4th (local time), the previous day, Mayor Lee Sang-il met with Consul General Han Jung-il at the Korean Consulate General in Da Nang to discuss ways to expand exchange and cooperation.

The meeting was attended by Mayor Lee Sang-il, City Council Chairman Jang Jeong-soon, City Council Autonomous Administration Committee Chairwoman Shin Na-yeon, City Councilor Kang Young-woong, Consul General Han, Senior Consul Oh Jung-taek, Consul Yoon Hye-won, and Jo Ju-yeon, Director of the Da Nang Trade Center of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA).

The mayor asked the consul general for the consulate general's support and attention so that the two cities could create cooperative achievements together.

Mayor Lee stated, "Yongin Special City has supported the construction of the 'Quang Phu Yongin Public Digital Library' in Tam Ky, Quang Nam Province through official development assistance (ODA) projects." He added, "Following Vietnam's administrative reorganization last year, when Quang Nam Province was incorporated into Da Nang City, we signed a friendly agreement with Da Nang in January of last year and have maintained relations."

The mayor said, "Since Da Nang is a key hub city in central Vietnam, I hope the consulate general will provide significant assistance in strengthening exchanges and cooperation between Yongin Special City and Da Nang."

Consul General Han said, "Da Nang City is currently very interested in attracting businesses, so there will likely be substantial exchange with Yongin Special City." He added, "The consulate general will also actively serve as a bridge for active exchange between Yongin Special City and Da Nang."