Vietnam’s national strategy for high-performance computing (HPC) from 2026 to 2035 aims to position the country among the top three in Southeast Asia for AI infrastructure while developing 1,000 AI and HPC experts.

The information was announced by Tran Minh Tuan, Deputy Director of the Institute for Digital Technology and Transformation at the Ministry of Science and Technology, during the 28th National Conference on Electronics, Communications, and Information Technology (REV-ECIT 2025), held December 20 at Hanoi University of Science and Technology.

Strategic national roadmap for AI infrastructure

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Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Pham Duc Long speaks at the conference. Photo: Organizing Committee

In his opening remarks, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Pham Duc Long outlined key priorities for 2026. These include removing policy bottlenecks, mobilizing more resources for science, technology, and innovation, and shifting from an input-control model to an output-evaluation mindset. He emphasized a focus on strategic technologies and fostering innovation.

“One important directive is to strongly implement sandbox mechanisms for new models, products, and business approaches. This will help shorten the journey from research to application and commercialization,” said Long.

Three national-level challenges to AI development

The “High-Performance Computing Center for Artificial Intelligence Development in Vietnam 2026–2035” project is a cornerstone of this roadmap. It will serve as the infrastructure backbone for Vietnam’s AI development in the coming decade, with an estimated budget of 7.5 trillion VND (approx. 310 million USD).

According to Tuan, as of 2024, Vietnam's total AI infrastructure capacity stands at only 51 megawatts, while 61.2% of enterprises are actively adopting AI solutions. However, only 22% of those are truly ready to utilize AI at scale.

This reveals a major disparity between infrastructure supply and application demand, as well as between possessing AI tools and using them proficiently.

The two biggest hurdles Vietnamese businesses face are high implementation costs (with 46.7% citing financial challenges) and a lack of skilled AI professionals (43.7%).

These challenges reflect three core national issues: insufficient AI infrastructure relative to demand, inadequate high-capacity electricity supply, and the absence of regulatory standards for AI development.

Despite these challenges, Vietnam’s AI market is projected to grow 18% annually through 2030, reaching 1.6 billion USD in size. This growth is already attracting major players like Viettel and FPT, as well as foreign tech firms, to expand local AI infrastructure.

Three-phase roadmap and open data center initiative

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Tran Minh Tuan, Deputy Director of the Institute for Digital Technology and Transformation, introduces the national HPC strategy. Photo: Du Lam

The HPC project will roll out in three phases:

Pilot (2026–2027)
Deployment (2028–2030)
Completion (2031–2035)

A key goal for the final phase is to achieve over 70% technology self-sufficiency, meaning that most AI applications and platforms are developed domestically.

“This autonomy will not only reduce licensing and service costs but also ensure data security and technological independence - both critical for Vietnam’s leadership in the AI revolution,” Tuan said.

The strategy outlines five key areas: building HPC infrastructure, software and platforms, AI applications and services, data ecosystems, and human resources.

The plan proposes that the Ministry of Science and Technology establish an Open AI Data Center within the National Data Center. This center would support research, education, and application development, offering datasets either freely or at discounted rates depending on the user.

Building a robust AI data ecosystem

Three levels of data will be created over time:

Vietnamese-language LLM base dataset (200–400 billion tokens) by phase two (2028–2030)

Multimodal datasets including Vietnamese images, videos, and audio by phase three (2031–2035)

Domain-specific datasets in six priority sectors: healthcare, logistics, agriculture, law, finance, and education.

By 2035, the project aims to place Vietnam in ASEAN’s top 3 for HPC capability and produce 1,000 AI and HPC specialists to support the domestic AI industry.

Economic and scientific impact

The local economy stands to benefit in two major ways.

First, shared computing resources will save companies and research organizations over 100 million USD annually in infrastructure costs.

Second, the HPC and AI ecosystem is expected to foster two AI unicorns (startups valued over 1 billion USD) and at least 50 commercial AI products, contributing 0.3% to national GDP, or roughly 1.5 billion USD annually through digital transformation and AI services.

Scientifically, the initiative aims to triple Vietnam’s capacity for advanced simulations in fields such as climate modeling, energy forecasting, and new material development - reducing dependence on foreign computing centers.

REV-ECIT 2025 draws record participation

Supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Vietnam Radio-Electronics Association (REV) and the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, co-hosted the 28th annual REV-ECIT conference under the theme “Breakthrough – Innovation – Connection: Building a Digital Ecosystem.”

The conference marks a significant milestone in nearly 50 years of Vietnam’s scientific development. Since its inception in the 1970s, it has evolved into a premier academic forum linking science, industry, and digital transformation.

This year’s event attracted 153 research papers from over 60 universities, institutes, and enterprises across Vietnam. After a rigorous review, 128 papers were accepted for publication - 64 were presented in-person and 54 via poster sessions. The 85% acceptance rate reflects both the high research quality and academic interest surrounding the event.

The Telecommunications and Wireless subcommittee received the most submissions, followed by Artificial Intelligence and Interdisciplinary Applications. According to Dr. Tran Duc Lai, Chairman of the REV, this interest shows the growing role of AI in addressing national challenges.

The Electronics and Microchip subcommittee also drew strong attention, aligning with Vietnam’s ongoing efforts to strengthen its semiconductor industry.

Du Lam