Vietnam ranks 2nd in GenAI technology startups in ASEAN region

Vietnam ranks 2nd in the ASEAN region in terms of dynamism and development of startups in Generative AI (GenAI) technology.

This information was announced at the Launch of the first GenAI ASEAN Startup Report in Hanoi , organized by the GenAI Fund in collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS), Databricks and the Vietnam National Innovation Center (NIC), on September 19. The event aims to announce essential information and insights about the rapidly developing Generative AI (GenAI) ecosystem in Southeast Asia.

Mr. Denning Tan, Director of GenAI Fund, said that the GenAI ASEAN 2024 Startup Report, through a survey of 6 countries, provides insights into the trends, opportunities, and resources that are shaping the future of GenAI in the region. The report also provides insights into the GenAI landscape, focusing on growth opportunities and investment trends across the region.

The report provides startups, government agencies and enterprises with data-driven analysis and actionable insights into how GenAI technologies are transforming industries across ASEAN, with Vietnam in particular positioning itself as a key innovation hub in this space.

Mr. Do Tien Thinh - Deputy Director of the National Innovation Center (NIC) emphasized that artificial intelligence (AI) is a fundamental technology field of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, contributing significantly to creating a breakthrough in production capacity, improving national competitiveness, and promoting sustainable economic growth. Artificial intelligence, especially generative AI (GenAI), is creating unprecedented breakthroughs, opening up unlimited possibilities for humanity. To date, AI technology has been applied to all areas of life, from healthcare, education, to production and agriculture.

“In Vietnam, the Government is well aware of the importance of AI and has issued many policies to promote research, development and application of AI,” said Mr. Thinh.

As an advisory body, the Ministry of Planning and Investment has submitted to the Prime Minister the "Project on Human Resource Development for the Semiconductor Industry to 2030, with a vision to 2050". One of the important contents of the project is to propose the goal that by 2030, Vietnam will have at least 5,000 engineers or higher with in-depth expertise in artificial intelligence (AI) to serve the semiconductor industry. On that basis, the Ministry of Planning and Investment has assigned the National Innovation Center to coordinate with domestic and international partners and experts to research and build an AI Training, Research and Application Center to serve business incubation, support research, application and in-depth training with the goal of training 7,000 AI experts according to international standards and incubating about 500 AI startups by 2030.

“These are very proactive steps to realize the goal of Vietnam soon becoming a center for innovation, developing solutions and applying artificial intelligence in the ASEAN region and the world,” said Mr. Thinh.

At the event, three pioneering GenAI startups in Vietnam introduced innovative applications across multiple industries. Specifically, Reforged Labs shared GenAI solutions for game marketers, Lex Engine with GenAI-enabled tools for the legal industry, and Laka.ai is a GenAI-enabled travel planning tool.