Meta chief outlines how Vietnam can become an 'AI dragon'

Meta's leader outlines key factors that will help Vietnam turn into an AI dragon - Photo: Meta

Could you elaborate on a Meta representative's comment earlier this year that Vietnam would become a ‘dragon’ in AI?

From Meta’s perspective, Vietnam is well-positioned to become a ‘dragon’ in Southeast Asia's AI industry due to the country's abundant talent. With a population of 100 million people and a median age of 32, Vietnam is poised to lead the digital economy in the region

Furthermore, considered a new economic 'tiger' in Southeast Asia, Vietnam has shown remarkable growth recently as it moves towards becoming a major player in international trade.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are central to Vietnam's economic growth, contributing significantly to job creation, export promotion, and poverty reduction.

The Vietnamese government has made strong commitments to developing the country's digital economy, and is very open to economic cooperation with many countries worldwide, not only in technology.

What key factors does Vietnam need to address to maximise the potential of AI?

We believe there are several key factors that Vietnam needs to keep in mind to unleash its AI potential.

First, investing in talent development is critical. Upskilling programmes and partnerships with global tech leaders are essential to nurturing the next generation of AI innovators.

Second, fostering a comprehensive AI ecosystem is also essential. The development of AI should bring broad benefits and span multiple sectors such as healthcare, education, and manufacturing, thereby creating far-reaching economic impacts.

Third, while the potential for AI technology development in Vietnam is boundless, the key question is how to transform that potential into reality. To develop new technologies, ensuring internet connectivity is indispensable. We are encouraging Vietnam to open up the 6 GHz band to facilitate next-generation innovative services.

What will Meta's specific strategy be in Vietnam?

We are working on several programmes in Vietnam. As you may know, we are partnering with the Ministry of Planning and Investment in the second year of the Vietnam Innovation Challenge.

Since 2017, we have trained nearly 90,000 SMEs, the backbone of the country’s economy, in digital skills. We also welcomed a high-level delegation from the Vietnamese government to visit Meta’s headquarters in Silicon Valley last July. We presented to the delegation the latest technological innovations, including AI; what technology can bring to humanity and national economies; and explored opportunities for Meta to support Vietnam in this area.

Meta is considering specific plans to increase investment in Vietnam, and we hope to be able to share more details with you soon.

There is a lot of talk about the Vietnam Innovation Challenge (VIC) Programme, so what role does Meta-VIC's companion play?

Meta is honoured to support the National Innovation Centre, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, and the VIC Programme in its second season, with a focus on building capacity and talent to develop the semiconductor and AI industry in Vietnam.

As a strategic partner and co-organiser, we have recently been engaging with the Selection Committee to review and evaluate the solution proposals to find the most outstanding initiatives.

We believe these solutions will energise and accelerate digital transformation in Vietnam while enhancing the competitiveness of the 800,000 SMEs nationwide.

Ideas from VIC 2024 are expected to help accelerate Vietnam’s digital transformation process - Photo: Meta

How does Meta rate the quality of the projects submitted this year?

We are delighted to see the initiative attract 750 innovative solution proposals from Vietnam and countries and territories renowned for their vibrant innovation ecosystems, including South Korea, the United States, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Germany, and others.

This year will see 39 solutions using Llama, Meta's most modern open-source large language model, across various sectors from large enterprises to startups.

We are pleased to see that the participating solutions have closely followed the semiconductor and AI industries, two factors that play an important role in the context of global economic competition and the Vietnamese government's strategy for developing high-tech industries.

Does Meta have any further comments on AI applications and startups in the AI ​​field in Vietnam?

As I previously mentioned, 39 entries at VIC are using Llama, so we can see the creativity and passion for innovation among Vietnamese firms.

The diversity of solutions participating this year has proven that AI has the potential to be applied in diverse fields across Vietnam.

One of the more prominent areas is conversational business. Vietnam is one of the world's leading countries in conversational business and has great potential for development.

According to a study published by Meta and Boston Consulting Group, 73 per cent of Vietnamese consumers surveyed use conversational business to start conversations with businesses in 2022.

That's why we've been testing our AI assistant for businesses in Vietnam since June this year, along with other tools like Facebook Live Business Assistant, Product Discovery on Messenger, and Advantage+ AI Automation for Advertisers.

Through collaborative programmes such as the Vietnam Innovation Challenge, we are pleased to see Vietnam prioritising AI in initiatives that align with Meta’s goal of fostering a knowledge-based economy. We are dedicated to supporting Vietnam in becoming a leader in AI development, both regionally and globally.

Highly anticipated Gen AI conference set to take place in Vietnam Generative AI is creating breakthroughs in many fields, from healthcare and education to society in general. As a result, Vietnam has decided to delve deeper into this new era of AI to boost economic growth and address societal issues.

Vietnam shows potential as global AI hub An event to mark Vietnam's Artificial Intelligence Day took place in Hanoi on August 23, aiming to foster discussion and exploration of AI's vast potential, while addressing the challenges of applying generative AI.

Two Vietnam startups selected for AWS Generative AI Accelerator Amazon Web Services (AWS), a subsidiary of Amazon.com, announced on September 18 that two Vietnamese startups–AI Hay and Kompato AI (the GenAI subsidiary of Trusting Social)–have been selected for the AWS Global Generative AI Accelerator programme.