Vietnam Places Artificial Intelligence at the Heart of Its Economic Strategy
In the rapidly evolving world of technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is making significant strides across various sectors globally. These advancements are reshaping industries and economies, promising long-lasting impacts. To nurture this wave of innovation, NVIDIA has been organizing specialized events, such as AI Days, in different regions around the world. These gatherings attract hundreds of enthusiasts, developers, researchers, and startups eager to delve into the technologies driving breakthroughs in AI. Recently, one such event took place in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
The NVIDIA AI Day in Ho Chi Minh City was held at the Sheraton Saigon Grand Opera Hotel, attracting over 800 participants. The event focused on the concept of "sovereign AI" and included 15 breakout sessions discussing various aspects of AI, such as physical, agentic, and generative AI. These sessions also explored AI factories that are crucial for fostering innovation at regional, national, and global levels.
During the event, Chuck Tybur, the head of the NVIDIA Partner Network, gave the opening address. He emphasized the significance of sovereign AI, highlighting the essential components for its success. These include:
- An AI imperative: Recognizing that domestic AI capabilities are crucial for economic growth, national security, cultural preservation, and innovation.
- An AI ecosystem: Building a supportive network of developers, scientists, entrepreneurs, investors, enterprises, and government organizations.
- An AI-ready workforce: Developing a diverse pool of AI skills and talent.
- AI models and data: Tailoring these to suit a region’s language, culture, and specific needs.
- AI factories: Establishing locally owned, operated, and governed AI production facilities.
Ho Chi Minh City was chosen for this event due to its dynamic economic growth, relentless innovation, and entrepreneurial spirit, as noted by Tybur. Vo Xuan Hoai, the deputy director of the Vietnam National Innovation Center, stated that Vietnam is positioning AI at the center of its economic strategy. The Innovation Center plays a pivotal role in supporting and developing the country’s startup and innovation ecosystem, contributing significantly to the advancement of science and technology in the region.
The Importance of AI in Vietnam
The integration of AI in Vietnam is driving digital transformation across multiple sectors, including government services, finance, smart manufacturing, healthcare, and creative industries. Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA, highlighted Vietnam’s strength in STEM fields, noting that many young students in the country excel in mathematics, science, and technology. This provides a strong foundation for developing future technologies.
The numbers reflect the growth of Vietnam’s AI ecosystem. As of September 2025, there are over 61,000 Vietnam-based developers utilizing the NVIDIA platform, 180+ NVIDIA Inception startups based in Vietnam, nine independent software vendors collaborating with NVIDIA, over 21,000 individuals enrolled in the NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute, and 39 enterprises working with NVIDIA.
Event Highlights and Workshops
The NVIDIA AI Day in Ho Chi Minh City featured various breakout sessions and gatherings for startups, NVIDIA Partner Network members, and NVIDIA Cloud Partners. The event also offered hands-on training labs through the NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute, covering topics such as:
- The fundamentals of agentic AI: This session provided an introduction to agent abstraction, emerging frameworks, and key insights shaping current AI and software innovations.
- Generative AI model compression: Participants learned about distilling, quantizing, and pruning for efficient large language models (LLMs), optimized inference, and reduced deployment costs. The session also addressed potential trade-offs in accuracy, latency, and hardware using NVIDIA solutions.
Industry in Motion
Vietnam-based NVIDIA partners and customers are playing a crucial role in the nation’s journey through the next industrial revolution, driven by AI. Notable examples include:
- GreenNode: Building large-scale Vietnamese LLMs with high-quality, culturally tailored datasets and scalable, secure deployment features.
- FPT: Demonstrating end-to-end AI development with a domestic AI factory, utilizing NVIDIA H100 and H200 GPUs for secure, accelerated model training, fine-tuning, and deployment of enterprise AI agents.
- VNPT AI: Advancing AI capabilities by integrating the NVIDIA DeepStream software development kit with in-house AI models for applications like computer vision, automatic speech recognition, and intelligent video-query applications.
- Zalo: Developing sovereign LLMs tailored to Vietnam’s unique linguistic and cultural needs.
Future Prospects
Looking ahead, Vietnam aims to establish three national data centers and rank among the top four leading AI nations in Southeast Asia by 2030. Tuan Minh Pham, CEO of FPT Software and executive vice president of FPT Corporation, emphasized the importance of AI and sovereign AI in propelling Vietnam forward. He highlighted the mission to develop the country, protect its independence in cyberspace, and ensure national security, privacy, and resilience against external factors. Pham expressed confidence that AI would enhance Vietnam’s speed and scalability, allowing it to keep pace with developed nations.
For those interested in further exploring AI advancements, the NVIDIA AI Day Tokyo, scheduled from September 24-25, promises opportunities to discover the latest breakthroughs, connect with peers and experts, and engage in innovation.
In summary, Vietnam’s strategic emphasis on AI is a testament to its commitment to embracing technology as a driver of economic growth and innovation. By fostering a supportive ecosystem and investing in AI capabilities, Vietnam is poised to become a significant player in the global AI landscape. This approach not only strengthens the country’s position in the tech era but also ensures its continued progress and adaptability in an ever-evolving world.
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