Speaking at the Vietnam - US Innovation and Investment Forum held on March 17 in California, Mitchell described Vietnam as “a critical link” and a destination of increasing strategic importance.

“The strong commitment of the Vietnamese government, combined with a young and ambitious workforce, is acting as a powerful magnet for US investors,” he said, adding that GEA is committed to building solid bridges to bring global technology corporations deeper into the Vietnamese market.

Expanding cooperation in energy and high-tech sectors

Echoing this view, James Voss, Vice President of EXCEL Services Corporation, highlighted significant potential for cooperation in new energy sectors.

He noted that accelerating research and development, strengthening clean energy infrastructure and investing in workforce training could lay the foundation for large-scale, symbolic projects between the two countries in the coming era.

Demonstrating this momentum, the National Innovation Center (NIC) signed a series of strategic agreements with EXCEL Services, Azurich Investment Fund and major universities during the event.

Vo Xuan Hoai, Deputy Director of NIC, emphasized that collaboration with global innovation ecosystems, particularly strategic partners in the US, would not only enhance Vietnam’s technological self-reliance but also help shape a stronger position in the global economic structure.

Connecting global talent and technology leaders

As part of a working trip from March 12 to 17, the NIC delegation held direct meetings with leading global technology companies and institutions, including NVIDIA, Meta, OpenAI, Marvell and Stanford University.

The discussions focused on opening new opportunities for cooperation in talent development and advancing key technology sectors such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence, cloud computing and unmanned aerial vehicles.

Attracting overseas Vietnamese talent was also identified as a top priority.

At a seminar on March 14 connecting Vietnam’s innovation network and experts in Silicon Valley, Le Viet Quoc, a leading expert at Google, said artificial intelligence offers Vietnam an opportunity to solve major development challenges and make breakthroughs in strategic technology sectors.

He pledged to help connect and mobilize around 100 top Vietnamese technology experts worldwide to contribute to the country’s development, with the initiative expected to begin in October this year.

More than 90 Vietnamese scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs and experts working at universities, research institutes and leading technology corporations in the US shared insights and proposed cooperation models in fields such as AI and digital twins, semiconductors, cloud computing, big data, quantum technology, blockchain, 5G and 6G networks, robotics and automation, biotechnology, energy and new materials, cybersecurity, aerospace and unmanned aerial systems.

According to Vo Xuan Hoai, mobilizing this intellectual resource is a key factor in strengthening Vietnam’s internal technological capacity and advancing strategic technology industries.

The series of events not only reinforced the comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and the US but also helped translate political commitments into tangible economic and technological outcomes, enabling Vietnam to integrate more deeply into global value chains.

Du Lam