Vietnam to Quickly Build National AI Supercomputing Center and Shared Open Data System

This announcement was made at the Vietnam-Korea Digital Forum held on October 29, with the theme: “From Sector-Specific AI to Inclusive AI: Korea-Vietnam Co-creating the Future.”

Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology, Hoang Minh, shared Vietnam’s strategy and development orientation for AI. He affirmed that securing Vietnam's own AI infrastructure is crucial, necessitating the swift construction of the national supercomputing center and open data framework.

The Deputy Minister emphasized that computing infrastructure, a data ecosystem, domestic digital technology enterprises, and the research force will enable Vietnam to accelerate AI development.

Vietnam is pursuing an open AI strategy, promoting AI adoption across businesses, government agencies, and key sectors to foster "Make in Vietnam" AI enterprises. The Ministry of Science and Technology's National Technology Innovation Fund (NATIF) will allocate a high percentage of support to AI applications, including providing vouchers for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to utilize Vietnamese AI solutions.

The country has seen an unprecedented rate of AI penetration: by the end of 2024, 80% of businesses and 88% of intellectual workers in Vietnam were already using AI. For state agencies, AI application is considered a necessity due to the sharp increase in workload compared to five years ago.

Ambitious Goals and Focused Strategy

Vietnam has set clear goals for its AI journey:

• By 2030: Rank in the Top 3 of ASEAN and Top 20 globally, develop about 10 "Make in Vietnam" AI brands, train 50,000 AI experts and engineers, operate 2 national high-performance computing centers, and ensure 100% of civil servants use virtual assistants for work support.
• By 2045: Be among the Top 10 leading countries in AI globally.

Providing details on the five pillars of action (infrastructure, data, application, human resources, and finance), Mr. Ho Duc Thang, Director of the National Institute of Digital Technology and Transformation, stated that Vietnam will not enter a race for general AI models or infrastructure with large global firms. Instead, the focus will be on mastering core technology through specific Vietnamese challenges in each sector—for example, developing a large language model tailored for the Vietnamese language and culture to preserve national identity.

He called for Korean enterprises to invest in digital infrastructure and AI data centers in Vietnam, develop specialized AI solutions for the market, and urged Korean academic institutions to cooperate closely in R&D and training the target of 50,000 AI engineers.

The forum's theme, “From Vertical AI to Inclusive AI – Co-opening the Future,” underscored the digital cooperation direction. While South Korea promotes both industry-focused (Vertical AI) and human-centered (Inclusive AI), Vietnam is recognized as an AI innovation hub in Southeast Asia due to its rapidly developing digital market and dynamic, young workforce.