It hopes to help with developing a Vietnamese-owned large language model; building AI infrastructure and GPU capabilities; training the workforce and fostering startup growth; and advancing Vietnam’s AI ecosystem.

The company made the proposal at the meeting with Vu Hai Quan, Vietnam’s Minister of Science and Technology (MST) on August 20.

Vu Hai Quan, Vietnam’s Minister of Science and Technology and Vikram Rao, vice president, Enterprise ASEAN, Nvidia. Photo: The MST

Vikram Rao, vice president, Enterprise ASEAN, Nvidia said that Vietnam has made significant progress in building an AI ecosystem, with the participation of enterprises, educational institutions, and technology partners. Nvidia is currently collaborating with Vietnamese companies such as FPT, Viettel, and GreenNode, among others, to develop AI infrastructure and capabilities.

The company stated that it is developing open-source models–including Nemotron–while also providing the tools, data, and support solutions that enable nations to develop models tailored to their specific data, languages, and needs.

Regarding the development of AI infrastructure and GPU capacity, it said that Vietnam currently possesses approximately 10,000–15,000 GPUs. In contrast, countries like South Korea already have around 50,000–60,000 GPUs and plans to expand this figure to 200,000–250,000 over the next five years. The company proposes that Vietnam formulate a national-scale plan to develop AI computing capabilities to serve government agencies, enterprises, universities, and research and development activities.

In regard to human resources, startups, research, and AI education, Nvidia proposes expanding the programmes of its Deep Learning Institute in Vietnam, aiming for nationwide implementation and deeper integration into educational curricula.

For the startup ecosystem, the company views Vietnam as one of the most dynamic startup markets in ASEAN and aims to strengthen cooperation with and support for Vietnamese AI startups. The two sides also discussed providing support for researchers, doctoral candidates, and students to engage with Nvidia’s AI ecosystem.

NVIDIA also proposes connecting Vietnam’s AI ecosystem with the global ecosystem, initially by integrating Vietnam’s AI products, enterprises, and capabilities more deeply into the ASEAN market, and subsequently expanding into international markets.

Minister Quan assessed that the four areas proposed align with Vietnam's strategy and direction for the development of sci-tech and innovation. The minister requested the ministry's focal units to coordinate to translate the four key areas into a joint action plan, clearly defining tasks, resources, and implementation.