On September 16, the University of Economics and Business under Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNU-UEB), in collaboration with the Vietnam Institute of Economics and World Institute under Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, held the 2025 Economic Forum.

Nguyen Duc Hien, Deputy Head of the Party Central Committee’s Policy and Strategy Department, said that Vietnam is entering a historically significant phase of development. The Party and the state have set an ambitious goal of achieving double-digit economic growth during 2026-2030, viewing this not only as a strategic aspiration but also as a measure of the nation’s resilience, vision, and macroeconomic management capacity.

“However, to realise such ambitious goals, we cannot continue to rely on traditional growth drivers such as resource exploitation, cheap labour, or capital expansion. Vietnam must forge modern, sustainable drivers suited to the digital and green eras, while fully utilising opportunities from international economic integration to achieve breakthroughs,” he said.

Key drivers highlighted include: developing a modern institutional framework and a transparent, fair environment to unlock all societal resources; advancing science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation as primary drivers of productivity and competitiveness; and focusing on highly qualified people, particularly in high-tech, digital economy, green economy, and global governance sectors.

“At the same time, we must enhance the role of the domestic private sector, improve foreign investment attraction efficiency in connection with technology transfer, and foster a sustainable production-innovation ecosystem. Above all, economic growth must be linked with green development, environmental protection, social equity, and improve quality of life for the people,” Hien underlined.

Le Trung Thanh, rector of VNU-UEB, reaffirmed that Vietnam urgently needs to build modern and sustainable growth drivers based on transparent institutions, innovation, digital transformation, and green development, while seizing opportunities from global integration.

“We are living in an era where economic rules, power structures, and global value chains are being rewritten. The post-pandemic world, along with geopolitical conflicts, technological divides, and climate change pressures, has forced both developed and developing economies to reexamine their development paths,” he said.

He added that these growth drivers are essential, including efficient and dynamic institutions; a workforce capable of lifelong learning and mastering new knowledge; innovation and digital technologies as indispensable components of competitiveness; a green and environmentally sustainable economy; and the system’s ability to learn, adapt, and cooperate.

Tran Van Tho, professor emeritus at Waseda University in Japan, noted that over the past 35 years, Vietnam’s average growth rate was 6.5 per cent. “Vietnam has not yet experienced a period of sustained double-digit growth (10 per cent annually for over 10 years) like Japan, South Korea, or China,” he said.

Regarding solutions for Vietnam’s economic growth, Tho proposed policies such as creating mechanisms for large enterprises to work with the state in shaping a long-term economic vision; encouraging tech transfer and management know-how through links with small- and medium-sized enterprises; expanding production and export scale in existing industries or developing new ones; and promoting policies to develop supporting industries.

“With the current determination to reform institutions and the policy proposals discussed, I believe Vietnam can achieve a higher growth rate in the coming period,” the professor stated. To this end, he emphasised full employment, universal free primary and secondary education, and proper investment in healthcare services.

“It is necessary to establish pension and unemployment insurance systems so that every citizen feels secure about their future,” he added.

At the open discussion session, representatives from regulatory agencies, international organisations like the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and scholars engaged in lively exchanges on growth drivers and major solutions such as institutional frameworks, sci-tech development, and training people in high technology, the digital economy, the green economy, and international governance.

MoIT is confident in hitting trade growth targets for 2025 The Ministry of Industry and Trade has expressed confidence that Vietnam can achieve its full-year export–import growth target of 12 per cent, citing robust results in the first seven months as a strong foundation.

World Bank forecasts Vietnam’s GDP growth to reach 6.6 per cent in 2025 Vietnam’s GDP growth is forecast to reach 6.6 per cent in 2025, according to the latest report by the World Bank.

IMF projects Vietnam’s economic growth to ease to 6.5 per cent in 2025 Vietnam’s economic growth is predicted to slow to 6.5 per cent in 2025 due to the impact of US tariffs, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Jeff Johnson, managing director of AWS ASEAN

How have countries such as Vietnam been benefiting from Amazon’s investment, and how are they shaping the future of digital capabilities across ASEAN?

ASEAN is one of the most vibrant, fast-growing digital markets in the world, and the opportunity is extraordinary. We’re looking at a region with 61 per cent of its population that’s 383 million people under the age of 35.

Add to this the fact that ASEAN is the world’s fastest-growing internet market, with 125,000 new users coming online every single day. The digital economy here is projected to add an estimated $1 trillion to regional GDP over the next decade.

That young, tech-savvy population and booming digital economy translates into huge demand for cloud services. We’ve seen governments and businesses alike embracing a cloud-first mindset, from Singapore’s Smart Nation initiatives to Thailand’s ambitious digital transformation plans.

For AWS, it’s strategic not just in terms of market opportunity but also innovation, with some of the coolest new digital services and startups coming out of ASEAN. We want to empower all of that. That’s why you see us putting infrastructure in place, training more than 1.8 million people across ASEAN in cloud skills since 2017, highlighting local customer successes, and working hand-in-hand with regulators.

On our infrastructure investment, we now have four regions in Southeast Asia: Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. Each represents a significant investment: S$12 billion ($9.34 billion) additional investment in Singapore by 2028, over $6 billion in Malaysia by 2038, and more than $5 billion each in Thailand and Indonesia.

This infrastructure is crucial because it brings AI capabilities closer to our customers, reducing latency and enabling local data residency. Our investments are also creating jobs and contributing to the countries’ gross domestic products.

But what’s most exciting is how organisations are already leveraging this foundation to transform their businesses. Vietnam International Bank (VIB) is one such organisation, leveraging AWS to power its generative AI assistant, ViePro, built on Amazon Bedrock for their customer engagement platform. VIB further enhanced transparency and monitoring by using Amazon SageMaker for continuous model tuning to ensure that outputs adhere to compliance and ethical standards.

How does the company ensure that AI development in the region aligns with global best practices for responsible AI, which could include data privacy, ethics, and governance?

As AI adoption accelerates throughout ASEAN, responsible development has become paramount. AWS’s approach combines a robust technical framework with ethical governance, ensuring organisations can innovate confidently while maintaining the highest standards of responsibility and trust.

Our vision for responsible AI is brought to life through real customer transformations. Take Ascend Money, a leader in financial inclusion across Southeast Asia. By leveraging AWS’s GenAI capabilities, they’ve revolutionised nano-loan approvals from days to seconds, while maintaining strict security standards. Their success demonstrates how responsible AI can democratise financial services while protecting customer interests.

Local innovators like Arcanic AI exemplify how culturally aware AI solutions can be developed responsibly. Their use of Amazon SageMaker demonstrates that ethical AI development and cultural sensitivity can go hand in hand, creating solutions that truly resonate with local markets while adhering to global best practices.

These success stories are underpinned by AWS’s comprehensive security framework and specialised tools like Amazon Bedrock Guardrails and Amazon SageMaker Clarify, which address critical concerns around bias, transparency, and data protection. This enables organisations to push the boundaries of innovation while maintaining the highest standards of responsible AI development.

Can you highlight some successful AI-powered solutions or projects in Southeast Asia that have been built on AWS?

Across ASEAN, we are enabling transformative AI innovation across diverse sectors. From agile startups to established banks and tech companies, organisations are leveraging our platforms to accelerate growth, experiment with new technologies, and revolutionise their customer experiences.

Take Grab as an example. If you live in Southeast Asia, you have probably used Grab for rides, food delivery, or payments. What’s impressive is how they’ve scaled to serve more than 30 million monthly users across multiple countries and even launched new digital banks in just over a year. AWS is the platform behind the scenes making sure it all runs smoothly every single day. Their GenAI solutions run on Amazon Bedrock and help power critical production services while ensuring guardrails are in place.

Businesses in Vietnam are also increasingly adopting AWS’s cutting-edge GenAI capabilities, joining the wave of technological advancement sweeping across Southeast Asia. In the digital international banking space for example, TymeX uses Amazon Q Developer, our GenAI coding assistant, to boost their developers’ coding efficiency by over 40 per cent for, improve testing workflows by a staggering 90 per cent, and reducing testing time from five hours to just 30 minutes.

AI Hay stands out as another innovative example. Its community-driven search platform has captured widespread adoption with 15 million downloads, handling over 100 million monthly queries. Powered by AWS’s specialised AI chips and services, AI Hay delivers remarkable results: 80 per cent user satisfaction for Vietnamese language queries and 85 per cent interest match rates.

This demonstrates how AWS’s AI solutions can effectively serve millions of Vietnamese users while maintaining high performance and cost efficiency.

What industries in Vietnam do you see as early adopters or high-impact beneficiaries of your AI services?

In Vietnam, industry reports show rapid growth of Vietnam’s digital banking sector. Revenue from digital financial services is expected to reach nearly $3.8 billion by the end of 2025, with mobile transactions projected to grow by as much as 400 per cent in the same period.

The wider Vietnamese financial services industry is at the forefront of adopting AI services on AWS, leveraging GenAI and machine learning to drive efficiency, enhance customer engagement, and innovate faster.

Techcombank is another great example of digital banking transformation powered by AWS. Its journey showcases the perfect blend of technological innovation and human capital development. They saw great success utilising Amazon Q Developer to generate over 135,000 lines of secure, high-quality code, and went from a pilot of 50 developers to deploying it across their workforce of over 600 developers.

Using GenAI has allowed it to make resource provisioning 90 per cent faster, reduced monthly application costs by 30 per cent, and better serve its 15.4 million customers with enhanced digital banking services.

AWS has demonstrated how AI solutions can effectively serve millions of Vietnamese people

How is AWS helping the region build a skilled AI workforce, and how does it approach inclusivity and accessibility in AI education across rural and urban areas?

AWS stands ready as a strategic enabler of Vietnam’s digital transformation through three key pillars. Firstly, we ensure Vietnamese organisations have reliable access to cloud services through local infrastructure, including AWS OutPosts, Edge locations, and a planned Local Zone, to ensure high-performance cloud services nationwide.

Secondly, we’re democratising access to transformative technologies. Since our inception, AWS has reduced prices over 150 times while expanding our portfolio to include cutting-edge GenAI solutions. By offering access to premier large language models like Anthropic Claude, Meta’s Llama, and Amazon Nova, we’re ensuring Vietnamese organisations can compete on the global stage regardless of their size.

Thirdly, AWS is committed to building ASEAN’s digital future by developing its most crucial asset – its people. Our track record speaks volumes: since 2017, we’ve equipped over 1.8 million individuals across the region with vital cloud skills. We also exceeded our ambitious global of providing free AI skills training to two million people globally by the end of 2025 a year early.

Through educational initiatives like AWS Skills Builder, AWS Educate, and AWS Skills Guild, as well as local community schemes such as our AWS Vietnam Study Group and First Cloud Journey programme, we’re nurturing the next generation of tech talent. This skills transformation is essential for sustaining Vietnam’s digital momentum.

The combined brand value of Vietnam’s 100 most valuable brands in 2025 stands at $38.4 billion, down 14 per cent from last year, according to Brand Finance’s Vietnam 100 2025 report. The contraction aligns with a slower growth outlook, with GDP forecast to expand by 7 per cent in 2025.

Despite the overall decline, several industries posted robust gains. Automobiles rose 49 per cent, real estate 27 per cent, logistics 25 per cent, airlines 15 per cent, and technology 10 per cent, underscoring pockets of resilience within the economy.

The report offers a detailed analysis of sectors such as banking, real estate, and technology, showcasing top brands and their notable achievements. The sector analysis highlights impressive digital adoption, especially in banking where 87 per cent of brands, including Vietcombank and MB, are embracing digital transformation. The real estate sector grew by 27 per cent, driven by brands like Vinhomes, while the technology sector grew by 10 per cent, illustrating industry resilience amid broader economic challenges.

Viettel Group, holding the fort as Vietnam’s most valuable brand, continues to strengthen its market position through ongoing 5G network expansions, which is set to cover 99 per cent of the national population by 2030, and a strategic partnership with Visa to boost digital payments. Alongside Viettel Group, Vinamilk (down 2 per cent to $2.6 billion) and Vietcombank (up 16 per cent to $2.4 billion) are ranked second and third most valuable Vietnamese brands of the year, respectively.

MB stands out as the fastest-growing brand this year, with an 87 per cent increase in brand value, reaching $1.6 billion. The bank’s digital-first strategy and expansion into banking for corporate and small- and medium-sized enterprises have driven this impressive growth.

Vinpearl (brand value $204 million) claims the top spot as Vietnam’s strongest brand, boasting a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score of 97.5/100 and an AAA+ brand strength rating. The brand’s robust strength and value are a clear reflection of its deep consumer trust, reputation, and dominant market presence.

Following Vinpearl, Vietcombank and Bao Viet ($603 million) are ranked second and third for brand strength, with BSI scores of 95.3/100 and 92.8/100, respectively.

“Vietnamese brands are proving resilient despite a decline in overall brand value,” said Alex Haigh, managing director, Asia-Pacific at Brand Finance. “Viettel’s 5G expansion, MB’s digital-first growth, and Vinpearl’s record strength illustrate this adaptability, while Techcombank’s rise as the third most valuable banking brand reflects strong market trust and demand for premium financial services.”

Vietnam has made significant strides in sustainability with new measures such as the 2024 ESG Implementation and Disclosure Handbook and mandatory annual greenhouse gas reporting for more than 2,000 high-emission facilities. These efforts support the country’s target of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.

In the Brand Finance Vietnam 100 2025 rankings, Viettel Group leads on Sustainability Perceptions Value at $400 million, reflecting its investments in green technologies and community development. VietinBank posted the highest positive gap value at $9 million, signalling room to further strengthen its sustainability reputation.

Other notable brands in the ranking include BIDV (down 1 per cent to $1.6 billion), Techcombank (up 12 per cent to $1.6 billion), FPT (up 18 per cent to $1.2 billion), Vietnam National Petroleum Group (up 14 per cent to $567 million), Vietjet Air (up 11 per cent to $417 million), and Vietnam Airlines (up 21 per cent to $376 million).

AI-powered tools can enhance outcomes and improve accuracy in manufacturing, healthcare, and more, photo Le Toan

Sharing about how AI adoption has brought significant changes to business operations, Pham Van Viet, CEO of Viet Thang Jeans, told media that the company has been applying AI for more than two years.

The company uses AI in clothing design, production, product introduction, e-commerce sales, customer interaction, planning, reporting, and consumer trend forecasting. Since then, thanks to AI applications, performance has improved markedly, cutting down 90 per cent of the time and cost from production to sales, planning, and reporting.

“Adopting AI is not too expensive to use small-scale AI applications for specific functions. The key is maximising their capacity,” Viet said.

Initially, the company invested in three AI tools for some functions at $50 per tool per year. Later, an additional 13 AI tools have been installed to cover most processes, reducing the cost to only $17 per tool per year.

“The performance of AI application is superb. Previously, without AI, production cost 10 units and took 10 days, but now it costs only 1 unit, a 90 per cent reduction,” Viet added. “In the past, the company had to hold many meetings to make decisions, but now AI quickly aggregates and provides information. AI works like an assistant, taking over 70-80 per cent of the tasks we used to do.”

At a workshop on AI transformation in Southeast Asian businesses in Ho Chi Minh City on August 27, Fabian Singer, general manager of Siemens Healthineers Vietnam, reflected on the healthcare sector’s growing use of AI-powered tools to enhance patient outcomes, improve diagnostic accuracy, and create personalised treatment plans.

He highlighted how AI can substantially enhance doctors productivity and decision-making capabilities. “Though AI can never replace the doctor, it can assist them with a second pair of eyes, reduce the burden of growing workload, and improve their ability to see what might otherwise be missed,” he said.

Singer emphasised that successful AI transformation in healthcare depends on the broader ecosystem. “Medical professionals must be equipped with the skills and confidence to use AI tools effectively. Without targeted education and support, even using the most sophisticated systems cannot guarantee the most effective outcome,” Singer said.

Hoang Tri Mai, managing director of Airbus Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, said that from predictive maintenance to satellite imagery analysis, AI is helping Airbus anticipate issues and optimise operations, as well as design smarter products and services to address climate change challenges.

Her key takeaway focused on what makes these applications possible: robust data infrastructure. “AI gives us the predictive power to foresee and mitigate issues before they arise, but that power is dependent on a foundation of reliable, integrated data,” Mai said.

She explained that without a strong data foundation, organisations struggle to scale solutions or generate meaningful insights. For Airbus, this means investing in sensor networks, real-time monitoring systems, open-data platforms, and collaborations with industry partners. Mai encouraged other businesses to prioritise data readiness early in their AI journey. “A robust data infrastructure gives AI the stability and scale it needs to deliver real business value,” she said.

Vo Trong Thu, head of AI Lab at GreenNode, said that AI can extract valuable insights, convert unstructured data (such as invoices and contracts) into structured data, enhance flexibility, and reduce risks. “In port management, AI can process container entries in just two seconds instead of 1-2 minutes manually, with nearly 100 per cent accuracy. An intelligent document processing system can save a large enterprise up to $600,000 per year by cutting two-thirds of paperwork handling time,” he said.

Warrick Cleine, chairman and CEO of KPMG in Vietnam and Cambodia, highlighted AI’s deep impact on its business model, from hourly rates to the rise of the digital headcount, where AI agents and software perform tasks traditionally handled by human employees. “The challenge isn’t just implementing new tools; it’s about redesigning the entire engine of our business, from how we price our value to how we develop our people,” Cleine said. “The digital headcount is real, and the career paths of tomorrow are being written today. The most important skill will be the ability to adapt.”

Photo: LeToan

In late August, Netherlands-headquartered IPTP Networks, a global telecommunications and infrastructure group, launched the AIDC DeCenter Data Centre in the central city of Danang. The facility will have capacity for 1,000 racks, a minimum power output of 10MW, and total capital of $200 million. Construction is expected to begin in March 2026.

Also last month, LG CNS signed an MoU with VNPT and Korea Investment Real Asset Management to jointly develop a hyperscale AI data centre in Vietnam.

According to technology experts, the rapid expansion of such data centres and digital infrastructure is creating a paradox: while digitalisation supports climate change adaptation and mitigation, it also consumes large amounts of energy and generates significant waste.

“Every three years, the world’s data doubles, and Vietnam is no exception as its data volume rises even faster. The core issue driving digital transformation is therefore digital infrastructure,” expert Tien Hoang said.

The European Chamber of Commerce (EuroCham) in Vietnam’s Digital Sector Committee stressed that balancing growth and sustainability requires looking at the entire digital ecosystem – from powering infrastructure with renewable energy to managing devices across their lifecycle and designing innovation with efficiency in mind.

“For example, powering data centres and telecom networks with renewable energy significantly reduces the footprint of the digital economy, while stronger e-waste management and circular economy practices can help conserve valuable resources,” said Bruno Sivanandan, co-chair of the committee. “At the same time, innovation in software and hardware design increasingly focuses on energy efficiency, from low-carbon cloud services to algorithms requiring less computing power.”

The Academy of Science and Technology Strategy noted that digital transformation is already challenging efforts to ensure environmental sustainability, with data centres among the biggest energy consumers.

Figures from the academy showed that in 2022, data centres consumed 240–340 billion kWh, about 1.3 per cent of global electricity. The IT industry as a whole uses 6–10 per cent of global electricity, emitting 3.7 per cent of total greenhouse gas emissions.

“Vietnam faces an urgent need to achieve economic development alongside environmental sustainability. This is challenging but also promising, and essential if the country is to fulfil its net-zero commitment by 2050 and enhance overall competitiveness,” Vu Van Tich, deputy director of the academy, told VIR. “Without clean energy solutions, the digitalisation process will put additional pressure on the national grid and drive up emissions, making it harder to meet sustainable development targets.”

Vietnam is seeing growing interest from domestic and international businesses developing data centres to meet soaring demand, particularly as AI drives rapid increases in data processing.

According to Cushman & Wakefield, by 2024 Vietnam had 51MW of operational data centre capacity, 11MW under construction, and a further 28MW planned. Ho Chi Minh City accounts for half of the country’s operational capacity.

Vietnam’s data centre market is projected to reach $1.75 trillion by 2030, growing at a compound annual rate of almost 18 per cent, according to Research and Markets.

Local technology firms such as VNPT, Viettel, CMC, FPT, and VNG are actively expanding their data centre networks. CMC plans to invest up to $500 million in facilities in Vietnam, Japan, and several other countries by 2028.

In April, Viettel began building its high-tech data centre and research and development complex in Ho Chi Minh City. Once completed, it will be among the 10 largest in Southeast Asia. Viettel is also planning 11 large-scale data centres with combined capacity exceeding 350MW, representing about 40 per cent of the country’s total.

“Leading digital companies sit at the heart of this challenge,” said Sivanandan of EuroCham. “On one hand, their data centres, telecom networks, and device supply chains contribute significantly to emissions. On the other, these companies provide the technologies that help other industries cut carbon and adapt to climate risks. Their responsibility is twofold: to decarbonise themselves and to enable broader climate action.”

To support sustainable growth, the Ministry of Science and Technology is rolling out solutions focused on greener digital infrastructure.

According to national planning in ICT towards 2030, approved in 2024, all new data centres must meet global green standards. Investors are required to ensure that the Power Usage Effectiveness index of newly built facilities does not exceed 1.4, below the global average. The ministry is also working with agencies to raise awareness, improve digital skills, and promote green practices.