American chipmaker Marvell Technology has grown its engineering team in Vietnam from just five in 2013 to more than 500 today, making the Southeast Asian country its third-largest global research and development hub after the United States and India.

To support this rapid expansion, Marvell Vietnam has opened two new offices in Ho Chi Minh City in the south and another one in Danang on the central coast.

The southern economic hub is where the Nasdaq-listed tech firm established its local presence in 2013, and one of its two newest offices in the city includes a lab fitted with advanced tools for semiconductor chip testing.

“The new lab underscores our long-term commitment to semiconductor research and validation, while highlighting Vietnam’s strategic role in the global semiconductor innovation landscape,” says Sandeep Bharathi, president of Marvell’s data centre business group.

“Marvell expects to continue building a strong engineering team in Vietnam – people who will deliver breakthroughs in semiconductor technology with the most complex and high-performance products that help shape the future of AI infrastructure,” he adds.

Le Quang Dam, general manager of Marvell Vietnam, concurs: “Vietnam has established itself as a strategic pillar in Marvell’s global R&D network. Our Vietnamese engineers are working on some of the most advanced and complex technology projects in the semiconductor industry, and the rapid growth of our team is the clearest proof of their quality and potential.”

Fostering bilateral ties

Marvell’s latest expansion comes against a backdrop of strengthening US-Vietnam relations. On September 11 2023 in Hanoi, then US President Joe Biden and Vietnamese top leaders elevated bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership, the highest level in Vietnam’s diplomatic hierarchy. At the time, Marvell’s chairman and CEO Matt Murphy joined a roundtable discussion between US and Vietnamese government and business leaders to discuss how to further strengthen trade and business ties.

Since then, US chip and semiconductor firms, including Nvidia, have sought to expand operations in Vietnam. Nvidia’s founder and CEO Jensen Huang has referred to Vietnam as the company’s "second home" on multiple occasions during his visits, underlining the sector’s growing interest.

Marvell says it is committed to strengthening the local talent pipeline through partnerships with universities and government agencies in Vietnam. Each year, it plans to award 30 scholarships and take in about 50 interns to give students real-world exposure to chip design and access to advanced technologies. The US semiconductor company also aims to diversify its local workforce, with plans to increase the proportion of female engineers.

The Vietnamese team is already involved in some of Marvell’s flagship projects, including the Alaska A 800G PAM4 DSP Active Electrical Cable, Alaska P PCIe Gen6 Retimer, and Nova 1.6 Tbps PAM4 DSP, according to the company.