Amid the powerful surge of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the Government of Viet Nam has clearly identified science and technology as the cornerstone of rapid and sustainable development. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh signed Decision No. 1131/QD-TTg on June 12, 2025, officially promulgating a list of 11 groups of strategic technologies and 35 groups of strategic technology products. This marks a strategic step towards strengthening technological self-reliance, narrowing the gap and participating more deeply in global value chains.
Institutes and universities ready for strategic technologies
The list approved by the Government encompasses numerous key sectors, opening up broad scope for institutes and universities to embark confidently on in-depth research.
The group covering artificial intelligence, digital twins and virtual/augmented reality includes Vietnamese large language models, virtual assistants, specialised artificial intelligence, analytical artificial intelligence, digital twins and the metaverse. The next-generation 5G/6G mobile network group aims at devices and solutions for open radio access networks (ORAN), core networks and high-speed IP transmission. The robotics and automation group comprises autonomous mobile robots and industrial robots.
In addition, the list extends to other strategic areas such as blockchain (digital assets, digital currencies and traceability systems), semiconductor chips (application-specific chips, AI chips and IoT chips), advanced biomedicine, new energy and materials, rare earths, underground and marine resources, cybersecurity, and aerospace with products including remote sensing satellites, control systems and UAVs.
This list is not merely an overarching picture of Viet Nam’s technological direction towards 2030; it also serves as a “compass” for institutes and universities to define research missions aligned with their inherent strengths and socio-economic development needs.
At University of Transport and Communications, modern laboratory systems, science and technology centres, and an international alumni network serve as important levers for implementing these strategic research projects.
Associate Professor, Dr Ngo Van Minh, Head of the Office of Innovation and Technology Transfer at the university, emphasised: “Investment in strategic technology research must begin with a solid foundation, particularly modern laboratories. They are the starting point for transforming theory into practical products, attracting students, engineers and scientists to participate in research.”
Meanwhile, Dr Tran Tien Cong, Head of the Faculty of Artificial Intelligence at Posts and Telecommunications Institute of Technology, stated: “In the coming period, we aim to implement training and coaching programmes enabling students to compete in international-level competitions and to bring international certifications into teaching in Viet Nam. The objective is for Viet Nam’s workforce to become elite, contributing directly to national education and development.”
This perspective reflects a shared commitment within the education sector to prepare high-quality human resources for advanced technological fields.
It is undeniable that policy plays a crucial role in creating a favourable environment for institutes and universities to enter strategic arenas. The Ministry of Science and Technology has been leading the development of a roadmap for implementing strategic technologies: by 2025, mastering at least three strategic products; by 2027, expanding to more than 20 products; and by 2035, developing an additional 25 products to meet socio-economic demands, contributing 15–20% of GDP.
According to Associate Professor, Dr Ta Hai Tung, Rector of the School of Information and Communication Technology at Ha Noi University of Science and Technology, a key orientation in the national technology development strategy is to leverage global achievements to accelerate domestic research and application, rather than starting slowly from scratch. Standing on the shoulders of giants, he argued, is the right approach for Viet Nam to narrow its technological gap with the world.
He illustrated this view with the example of global generative artificial intelligence such as ChatGPT, where countries can utilise open-source models and build Vietnamese-language datasets to develop applications serving domestic society, thereby advancing more rapidly than attempting to construct models from the ground up under limited resources.
Opportunity to stand on the shoulders of giants
If institutes and universities nurture knowledge, enterprises are the force bringing strategic technologies to market. Many private enterprises have proactively made long-term investments in core sectors such as semiconductors, UAVs, digital twins and biotechnology.
Dang Thi Anh Tuyet, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of MedCAT (an artificial intelligence platform designed by Vietnamese engineers), noted that the Government’s clear identification of strategic technologies provides an important guiding framework for businesses. “When we know we are moving in line with the nation’s strategic direction, enterprises gain greater confidence to invest long term, continuously develop and master technologies,” she affirmed.
She added that the technology business community will also recognise significant opportunities from the new list. Once the Government has mapped out core strategic technologies, this offers a clear orientation for enterprises to approach and select investment areas. In practice, businesses operating in these key sectors gain additional confidence and trust to pursue sustained development.
From a broader perspective, Associate Professor, Dr Ta Hai Tung reiterated that Viet Nam must adopt a smart path, leveraging global achievements to accelerate progress. A latecomer nation cannot develop by recreating everything from the beginning but must stand on the shoulders of giants.
“We can fully utilise foundational models, particularly open-source platforms, combined with Vietnamese-language data and a young workforce to rapidly develop AI applications serving citizens and enterprises. Viet Nam’s gap with the world is no longer as vast as before,” he observed. Mastering core technologies would give Viet Nam the opportunity to escape the middle-income trap and assert its position within global value chains.
Decision 1131/QD-TTg requires the Ministry of Science and Technology to coordinate with ministries, sectors and local authorities to develop detailed implementation programmes for each technology group, alongside a national standards system for the 11 strategic sectors in 2026. The development of these standards is intended to ensure uniformity, transparency and a legal foundation for research, production, testing and commercialisation of strategic technology products.
In this context, coordination among institutes, universities and enterprises becomes decisive. Universities prepare research and training resources, build laboratories and pilot zones; enterprises commercialise products and bring them to market; and the State establishes institutions, invests resources and ensures a favourable legal environment. When these three pillars converge, the innovation landscape can be robustly realised.
The Ministry of Science and Technology has submitted to the Government a proposal to prioritise six strategic technologies for early implementation to generate spearhead products capable of rapid market penetration and spillover effects: (1) Vietnamese large language models and virtual assistants; (2) 5G mobile network systems and equipment; (3) edge-processing AI cameras; (4) blockchain platforms for traceability and digital assets; (5) autonomous mobile robots; and (6) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
