From favourable assessments by intellectual property experts to decisions to global corporate decisions establishing research centres, expanding technological cooperation, and transferring knowledge, Viet Nam is securing an increasing number of “votes of confidence” from the international community.
These decisions reflect a growing recognition of the country’s innovation environment, its intellectual property system, and its potential to participate more deeply in the global knowledge value chain.
Confidence built on reform and integration
Nearly three decades ago, when Japan and Viet Nam launched their first intellectual property cooperation programmes, their primary objective was to help lay the foundations for a system that was still relatively new.
Today, looking back on that journey, many international experts believe that Viet Nam has come a long way.
Ogawa Akira, an intellectual property expert from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), is among those who have witnessed much of this development first-hand.
According to him, from 1996 to the present, a total of 14 experts from the Japan Patent Office (JPO) have participated in programmes supporting Viet Nam at various stages of its development.
In the early years, cooperation focused on building industrial property information management systems, establishing operational foundations for regulatory agencies and strengthening intellectual property enforcement capacity.
In recent years, however, the focus of cooperation has shifted considerably. Whereas the principal challenge in the past was how to establish rights more quickly and effectively, the current question is how intellectual property rights, once granted, can be utilised efficiently in production, business activities and innovation.
According to Ogawa Akira, this represents a highly significant transformation in Viet Nam’s intellectual property system.
“One major change is the shift from a phase focused on establishing rights to one that emphasises the exploitation and utilisation of intellectual property rights,” he said.
This assessment is particularly significant because it reflects the qualitative development of an intellectual property system.
At the initial stage, priorities typically include refining legislation, establishing procedures and improving the capacity to grant protection certificates. At a more advanced stage of development, however, the key question is no longer how many certificates are granted, but how much value those certificates generate for the economy.
From JICA’s perspective, recent amendments to Viet Nam’s Intellectual Property Law demonstrate that this orientation is becoming increasingly evident.
However, the Japanese expert also noted that the establishment and exploitation of rights are inseparable.
If the rights-granting process remains sluggish or examination quality falls short, efforts to commercialise and leverage intellectual property will inevitably still.
This is why Japan continues to support Viet Nam in enhancing examination capacity, improving the quality of protection certificates and strengthening intellectual property enforcement mechanisms.
Japan continues to support Viet Nam in enhancing examination capacity, improving the quality of protection certificates and strengthening intellectual property enforcement mechanisms. (Photo: JICA)
Japan continues to support Viet Nam in enhancing examination capacity, improving the quality of protection certificates and strengthening intellectual property enforcement mechanisms. (Photo: JICA)
A similar assessment has come from the Republic of Korea (RoK). Speaking with Nhan Dan Newspaper, Lim Hyunggun, a patent examiner specialising in machinery technology, stated that Viet Nam has already moved beyond the stage of basic legal development.
According to him, the country has modernised its intellectual property legal framework, implemented significant reforms and developed a long-term national intellectual property strategy.
Yet, as has been the experience of many countries before it, the greatest challenge now lies not in the number of legal documents.
“The real challenge is not only legislation, but market trust,” Lim Hyunggun remarked.
According to the Korean expert, compared with the RoK, Japan, Singapore and even China, Vietnam still needs stronger predictability in enforcement, faster examination, more specialised intellectual property judges, and a clearer damages system. Foreign investors and local innovators must feel that intellectual property rights are not merely registered, but actually enforceable.
Assessments from Japan and the RoK indicate that the international community not only recognises Viet Nam’s legal reforms but also applauds its efforts to make intellectual property an integral component of its knowledge-based economic development strategy.
This, in turn, provides a foundation for building confidence among international partners when making decisions on investment, technology transfer and long-term research cooperation programmes in Viet Nam.
Investment decisions backed by confidence
On May 12, 2026, Qualcomm Technologies officially inaugurated its strategic Research and Development (R&D) Centre in Ha Noi.
The decision by a corporation possessing an extensive patent portfolio in telecommunications, semiconductors and mobile technologies to establish a multidisciplinary R&D centre in Viet Nam, covering artificial intelligence (AI), system-on-chip (SoC) technologies, automotive technologies and the Internet of Things (IoT), demonstrates a significant shift in the way US partners assess Viet Nam’s technological capabilities.
Dr Baaziz Achour, Executive Vice-President and Chief Technology Officer of Qualcomm, stated that the opening of the new centre reflects the company’s confidence in Viet Nam’s increasingly important role within the global technology landscape.
Significantly, Vietnamese engineers will participate directly in research and development activities in areas such as artificial intelligence, SoC technologies, automotive technologies and IoT.
According to ST Liew, President of Qualcomm for Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand, the company’s objective is to build a team of engineers in Viet Nam capable of meeting international standards.
Once viewed primarily as a manufacturing link in global supply chains, Viet Nam now sees mounting opportunities to participate directly in research, design, and technological development.
The grand opening of the Qualcomm R&D Center in Viet Nam in May 2026. (Photo: Qualcomm)
The grand opening of the Qualcomm R&D Center in Viet Nam in May 2026. (Photo: Qualcomm)
A similar trend can be observed in cooperation between Viet Nam and Australia.
At Australia-Viet Nam TechFest 2025, Andrew Goledzinowski, former Australian Ambassador to Viet Nam, stated that Viet Nam has the potential to become Australia’s second-largest information technology partner after India.
This assessment underscores Australia’s growing interest in Viet Nam’s talent pool and technology ecosystem.
Professor Eryk Dutkiewicz, Acting Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology at the University of Technology Sydney, argued that Viet Nam is not merely a participant in cooperation programmes but a genuine strategic partner.
This assessment has been translated into concrete action through the establishment of the Australia-Viet Nam Strategic Technologies Centre (AVSTC) at the Posts and Telecommunications Institute of Technology.
AVSTC has been developed according to a model linking universities, research institutes and global technology enterprises. Among its founding industrial partners is Nokia, which holds thousands of patents related to 5G and 6G technologies.
For global technology companies, intellectual property remains a core asset. Their participation in establishing research laboratories in Viet Nam — particularly in fields like 5G/6G, AI, semiconductors, and cybersecurity — reflects profound confidence in the country’s environment for cooperation, technology protection, and knowledge development.
In addition, Viet Nam’s National Foundation for Science and Technology Development (NAFOSTED) and Australia’s Department of Industry, Science and Resources have signed a cooperation framework for selecting joint research projects, signalling that bilateral cooperation has entered a new phase.
The focus now extends beyond scientific publications to include the commercialisation of research outcomes and the establishment of ownership rights over inventions, software, data and emerging technologies.
Nor is this growing confidence limited to technology companies and research organisations. Policymakers and the British business community are also showing increasing interest in Viet Nam’s prospects within the knowledge economy.
Speaking with Nhan Dan Newspaper, Matt Western, the UK Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Viet Nam, described Viet Nam as one of the United Kingdom’s most promising partners in Asia.
According to him, General Secretary To Lam’s visit to London in late 2025, together with the establishment of a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and the signing of numerous new cooperation agreements, opened a new phase of deeper collaboration between the two economies.
Western noted that Viet Nam has entered a period of strong growth. Sectors attracting particular interest from British businesses include the International Financial Centre, energy, carbon reduction, urban transport infrastructure, transit-oriented urban development, education, financial services and financial technology.
He noted that the United Kingdom has been involved since the early stages of several important initiatives, including support for developing the financial and legal frameworks required for the International Financial Centre.
Particularly noteworthy is his emphasis on intellectual property when discussing British strengths in life sciences, pharmaceuticals and healthcare.
According to Western, the United Kingdom is home to many of the world’s leading universities and research institutes, several of which rank among global leaders in life sciences.
He stressed the importance of strengthening intellectual property protection, particularly in collaborative projects involving shared intellectual assets.
Clear global rules on intellectual property are essential; without them, the business environment becomes significantly less attractive for the major investments required to develop new products and services.
In particular, Western pointed out that life sciences require substantial investment in research. Without robust intellectual property protection mechanisms, investors would be far less willing to commit the significant financial resources needed. As a result, he believes intellectual property will become an increasingly important area in the years ahead.
Creating new value together
If Qualcomm, Nokia and Australian universities demonstrate that Viet Nam is becoming more deeply integrated into the global technology ecosystem, the healthcare sector offers a different perspective on the value of intellectual property.
In modern healthcare, intellectual assets are not limited to patents or advanced technological equipment. Value also resides in clinical data, treatment protocols, artificial intelligence solutions and professional expertise accumulated through years of research.
Medtronic provides a notable example. As one of the world’s leading medical technology companies, Medtronic has spent more than a decade cooperating with major hospitals in Viet Nam in fields such as cardiology, neurology and advanced surgery.
According to Mongkol Sankum, Senior Country Director for Medtronic Viet Nam, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos, Vietnamese hospitals today require more than mere access to technology.
“What healthcare facilities need even more is the ability to integrate that technology effectively into clinical practice in order to deliver maximum value for patients,” he said.
Surgical robots at a medical facility in Viet Nam. (Photo: Medtronic)
Surgical robots at a medical facility in Viet Nam. (Photo: Medtronic)
Whereas the focus in earlier stages was often on acquiring equipment or new techniques, attention has now shifted towards mastering technology, building operational capabilities and gradually participating in the development of specialised knowledge.
According to Sankum, a successful technology transfer programme involves not only introducing new equipment or techniques but also providing clinical training, standardising treatment procedures, sharing professional expertise and developing sustainable operational capacity among healthcare personnel.
“Ultimately, the success of a technology transfer programme should not be measured solely by the technology introduced, but by its ability to improve treatment outcomes and enhance patients’ quality of life,” he emphasised.
More broadly, this trend is becoming increasingly evident across many technology cooperation programmes involving Viet Nam. Partnerships are moving beyond the transfer of individual products or technical solutions towards joint research, joint training and the co-creation of new value.
This demonstrates that, within the knowledge economy, the value of intellectual property is becoming increasingly linked to expertise, data and innovation capabilities rather than traditional tangible assets.
According to Associate Professor Dinh Thai Hoang of the University of Technology Sydney, Viet Nam is undergoing a pivotal transition from a country that primarily receives and applies technology to one that participates more deeply in the creation of knowledge, technology and intellectual property assets.
He said the country’s greatest advantages lie in its young workforce, rapid adoption of new technologies and strong foundations in mathematics, engineering and information technology.
However, the greatest challenge remains the gap between research and commercialisation.
“We have many ideas and many strong research outcomes, but not all of them are designed from the outset to become patents, products, technological standards or spin-off enterprises,” he observed.
According to him, one of the key factors determining whether Viet Nam can play a deeper role on the global intellectual property map is the establishment of effective linkages among universities, research institutes, businesses and investors.
The experience of many countries shows that the value of intellectual property does not lie in the number of patents granted but in the ability to bring research outcomes successfully to market.
This is also a point strongly emphasised by Lim Hyunggun. According to the Korean expert, Viet Nam should not attempt to commercialise intellectual property assets across all sectors simultaneously but should instead focus on industries capable of generating both domestic capabilities and international competitive advantages.
These include semiconductors, high-tech industries, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and the creative industries.
Significantly, these are also the sectors seeing a growing presence of international partners in Viet Nam through research cooperation programmes, technology transfer initiatives and high-quality workforce training.
Viewed from abroad, the positive assessments of international partners may be regarded as “votes of confidence” for Viet Nam. Yet the greatest value of those votes does not lie in the praise itself.
More importantly, they reflect a transformation in how the world perceives Viet Nam: from a country that primarily receives technology to a partner capable of participating in research, development and innovation across a wide range of knowledge-intensive sectors.
Published: June 2026
Production manager: Thach Vu
Content: Quynh Lan, Minh Phuong, Van Toan, Trung Hieu, Thanh Mai, Hoa Bui