Vietnam signs strategic agreement with NVIDIA to establish AI research centers and regional datacenters.
Vietnam and the chipmaker Nvidia have signed an agreement to establish an artificial intelligence research and development center in the country, marking a significant step forward in Vietnam's plans to become a regional tech hub. The agreement was signed in Hanoi in the presence of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and visiting Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. The initiative will involve the expansion of an AI data center owned by the Vietnamese military-owned Viettel Group, which already uses Nvidia technology. Nvidia also acquired healthcare startup VinBrain, a unit of the prominent Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Investment Minister Nguyen Chi Dung emphasized the strategic importance of the partnership, stating that "Nvidia's support in the AI field will help Vietnam not only achieve its development goals in high-tech industry in general and AI field in particular, but also contribute to boosting the entire Southeast Asia region to become a destination of innovation." Huang praised Vietnam's "vibrant ecosystem of researchers, startups, and enterprise organizations," and the agreement represents a strong endorsement of Vietnam's future as a regional tech hub. Prime Minister Chinh highlighted how AI would bolster economic growth and the green transition, declaring, "We want to conquer not only AI, but also space and the ocean. AI will turn the sun, the wind and the waves into clean energy for us."
Nvidia's commitment to Vietnam reflects a broader expansion strategy across Southeast Asia. The company began collaborating with FPT Smart Cloud—its first Vietnamese cloud partner—last year, and in April, FPT announced it and Nvidia would build a $200 million AI "factory" using Nvidia's graphic chip and software. Huang previously visited Hanoi late last year and stated he wanted to make Vietnam Nvidia's "second home," emphasizing plans to expand partnerships with Vietnam's top tech firms and support the country in training talent. On his current regional tour, Huang visited Thailand to meet with Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and strengthen cooperation on AI infrastructure development.
This regional focus reflects Nvidia's broader Southeast Asian strategy, which includes major investments across the area. In January 2023, Singapore telco firm Singtel announced a partnership with Nvidia to deploy AI capabilities at its data centers across Southeast Asia. In December 2023, Huang announced a $4.3 billion deal to develop Malaysia's AI infrastructure in partnership with the local conglomerate YTL, which will build supercomputers using Nvidia AI chips and construct a large language model in Malay. In April of this year, Nvidia announced plans to build a $200 million AI center in Indonesia in partnership with local telco giant Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison.
Southeast Asia has become increasingly attractive to foreign tech firms due to its young, upwardly-mobile, and tech-savvy population, serving as both a manufacturing hub and market for tech products. The region is particularly appealing for Western companies seeking to reduce reliance on China amid intensifying geopolitical tensions with the U.S. This year alone, the CEOs of U.S. tech giants Apple and Microsoft have toured Southeast Asia, announcing billions of dollars in investments, particularly in data centers designed to support the expansion of AI services. This surge reflects the region's growing economic importance, with its digital economy valued at $263 billion in 2023, up from just $31 billion in 2015.