Business News

Vietnam’s digital economy is expected to reach US$39 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV) by 2025, making it the second-fastest-growing market in Southeast Asia, according to the e-Conomy SEA 2025 report jointly released by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company. The report highlights Vietnam as the regional leader in AI readiness and consumer trust, with 81% of users interacting with AI daily and 96% expressing strong confidence in AI tools.

While Vietnam is rapidly emerging as an AI-ready economy with strong digital ambition, industry leaders caution that successful adoption depends less on new technologies and more on the capability to govern, operate, and integrate them. At the Vietnam Future Economy Summit by Bloomberg Businessweek Vietnam on November 14, experts stressed that AI must be applied with measurable value and strategic purpose – or risk becoming a costly and ineffective investment.

To succeed in moving to a higher position in the value chain, economies must develop a large-scale, highly skilled workforce capable of attracting investment and stimulate innovation. Vietnam has acknowledged this, as shown in recent policy directions that emphasize science, technology, and especially human resources for high-tech supporting industries, identifying them as crucial drivers of growth.

In the first seven months of 2025, the northern province of Hung Yen has successfully attracted registered investment capital exceeding $840 million, achieving 84 per cent of its full-year target. This notable performance underscores the continuous improvements in the province's investment environment, which has been bolstered by favourable policies aimed at both domestic and foreign investors.

Mr. Nguyen Khac Lich, Director of the Authority of Information Technology Industry under the Ministry of Science and Technology, stated that Vietnam is the first country to enact the Law on Digital Technology Industry. This marks a historic milestone in completing the legal framework to position Vietnam as a global digital technology hub.

With a score of 59.2 out of 100, the Southeast Asian country outperformed many developed nations, affirming its emerging position as a country standing ready to embrace the AI era. The WIN Global AI Index measures public awareness, usage, trust, and concerns regarding AI, based on surveys conducted across 40 countries spanning five continents.

In a move to encourage stronger private sector engagement in scientific research and technological development, the Government has issued a legal framework and special incentives designed to attract investment into science, innovation and digital transformation. On July 1, the Government issued Decree 180/2025/NĐ-CP, setting out rules and policies for public-private partnerships (PPPs) in science, technology, innovation and digital transformation.

The Ministry of Science and Technology has recently issued a plan to attract 100 top-tier artificial intelligence (AI) specialists to spearhead the nation’s critical AI development programs, making the technology a strategic motive for economic growth, governance modernisation, and improvement in both living quality and national competitiveness.