Boosting Vietnam as an attractive investment.
Vietnam has experienced significant increases in FDI inflows since the ‘Doi Moi’ (renovation) era of market liberalisation,8 and funding for AI startups specifically has increased eightfold between 2023 and 2024 alone.9 Further investment in foundational, digital infrastructure will have major positive spillovers into the economy, attracting greater foreign investment, creating new business opportunities, and making existing businesses more productive.
In total, we estimate AI and the wider digital infrastructure to support it could lead to a further
(USD 8.4 billion) in FDI into
Vietnam over the next decade.
Vietnam’s AI startups see significant growth in funding
Capital investment in AI startups
Number of venture capitalist and private equity deals with AI startups
Source: ‘Vietnam Private Capital & Innovation Report’, Boston Consulting Group
Helping Vietnamese businesses go global.
Non-financial trade barriers (or non-tariff measures a.k.a ‘NTMs’) in import countries are difficult to navigate for businesses across the SEA region, including Vietnam. These include measures like product standards and export inspections, and other regulatory requirements, which warrant precise documentation, foreplanning and cost management policies. Currently, such barriers have led to spiralling costs, with logistics costs alone accounting for over 16% of Vietnamese GDP in 2023.10
These barriers are limiting Vietnam’s trade access. Export volumes to regions outside Southeast Asia are significant, but a disproportionate share of exporters report difficulty navigating regulation in these regions.11
AI can help boost digital exports by simplifying complex legal and compliance documentation, and reducing the cost of exporting, especially for SMEs.12
By helping ease current barriers to trade from language, regulatory submissions or other non-tariff measures, we estimate AI could help boost exports from the country by
(USD 120 billion).
Export difficulties vs. export share by trading region
Enhancing productivity and wages for Vietnamese workers.
While Vietnam has seen exponential growth in productivity since 1992,13 its output per hour still lags behind regional peers like Thailand and Malaysia.14 This means that Vietnamese workers are not reaching their full potential.
AI can accelerate Vietnam’s growth trajectory. According to our analysis, today’s AI technologies are likely to significantly augment around 34% of workers, boosting their productivity. By contrast, we found that less than 3% of today’s workers are at risk of displacement from AI.15
Improve the quality of the rest of my work. By boosting productivity and freeing employees to focus on higher-value tasks, AI increases the value of each hour worked, supporting wage gains of 5% or more.
On average, we estimate that AI could save the average worker almost 4 hours in administrative tasks a week.
Google and the National Innovation Center are supporting Vietnam’s digital economy.
Image: Viet Nam National Innovation Center (NIC) – Ministry of Finance, Vietnam.
The National Innovation Center (NIC), established under a Prime Minister’s Decision in 2019, has been developed as a place for nurturing startups, supporting digital transformation, and cultivating high-quality human capital. In alignment with these goals, NIC has developed a strong partnership with Google to accelerate Vietnam’s digital and economic development.
Through initiatives such as Google Career Certificates and Google for Startups, NIC and Google provided over 60,000 online scholarships in high-demand courses such as AI Essentials, Smart Business, Data Analysis, Cybersecurity, and Project Management – reaching students, professionals, and underserved communities.16 Moreover, the Startup Academy and the Google for Startups Accelerator have provided Vietnamese founders with mentorship and AI training, as well as up to VND 8.8 billion (USD 350,000) in Google Cloud credits. Most recently, the Google for Startups AI Bootcamp and AI Solutions Lab Hackathon have enabled startups to build gen AI solutions to develop products and tackle local challenges.17
Collectively, these programs are elevating individual career prospects and laying the groundwork for a digitally robust and innovative national economy.
“A certificate issued through [the Google Career Certificates] program is recognised globally… universities with IT programs, like Hanoi University of Science and Technology, encourage their students to take these courses. This shows their significant value.”
Mr. Do Tien Thinh
Vice Director
National Innovation Center (NIC)
The Da Nang city government has launched the Semiconductor and Artificial Intelligence Center for Research and Training (DSAC) to drive innovation in Vietnam’s high-tech sectors, with a particular focus on semiconductor and AI technologies. Central to its mission is the integration of Google’s digital tools, including Google Cloud, Workspace, and TensorFlow, across research, education, and international collaboration. Since the start of 2025, DSAC has collaborated with Google to develop AI applications for use in key sectors like education.
DSAC is leveraging these technologies to streamline research workflows, support real-time curriculum development, and deliver hands-on AI training. Google Meet and Drive enable seamless coordination across government departments and with partners such as Portland State University.
By utilising Google’s cloud infrastructure, DSAC is supporting Vietnam’s startups and small and medium-sized enterprises, cementing public-private partnerships and unlocking the next phase of government-powered economic growth.
“Through collaboration with Google, we’ve boosted the credibility of [our AI training programs]. This has attracted more interest, improved communication, generated positive media attention, and raised awareness among AI builders developing on Google’s platforms [in Vietnam].”
Mr. Phúc Lê
Director
Da Nang Semiconductor and
AI Research and Training Centre (DSAC)
Google’s tools are powering Vietnam’s public services.
AI in action: Manufacturing.
Manufacturing remains Vietnam’s most productive sector, but its share of the economy has not grown since 2005.18
Taking advantage of digitalisation and AI can help Vietnamese manufacturing firms boost productivity in an increasingly competitive environment19 and let the country build on its current strengths in electronics, home goods and textiles.
AI could help firms in the manufacturing sector optimise their supply chain, reduce downtime and minimise defects, indicating an opportunity for AI to drive a new phase of growth.
In total, we estimate that AI could help grow the manufacturing sector in Vietnam by
(USD 16 billion) in productivity gains.
With AI productivity gains, the total value add of the Manufacturing sector to the Vietnamese economy is VND 3,200 trillion (USD 126 billion)
AI in action: Tourism.
Vietnam’s tourism sector is booming. In the first quarter of 2025, revenue grew by 18% year-on-year to VND 21.5 trillion (USD 855 million).20 The industry now accounts for approximately 7% of Vietnam’s GDP, a 30% increase in its share of the economy from the previous year.21
But the sector is held back by language barriers among international tourists, especially outside major cities and tourist hubs.22 Making travel and communication easier will encourage tourists to visit rural areas and support local economies.23
By providing personalised recommendations, real time updates and convenient translation tools, AI could attract more tourists and increase trip frequency and spending.
In total, we estimate that AI could help grow the tourism revenue going to smaller businesses in Vietnam by
(USD 350 million), driven by productivity gains.
Monthly visitors to Vietnam (thousands).
Source: General Statistics Office of Vietnam.
AI in action: Agriculture.
Agriculture is a key part of the Vietnamese economy and a major export sector, with Vietnam being a top global exporter of rice and coffee.24 The sector makes up 12% of Vietnam’s GDP, and one-third of Vietnamese workers rely on agriculture for their livelihoods.25 26
This gap between agriculture’s share of the labour force and the share of the economy highlights the sector’s low productivity. This is a result of inefficient chemical and water usage, uneven mechanisation, intensifying climate pressures – particularly in the Mekong Delta – and many fragmented smallholder plots of less than one hectare.27
AI could enable precision farming, earlier detection of pests and smarter use of water, helping to prevent groundwater contamination and increase the overall productivity of the sector.28
We estimate that AI could help deliver productivity gains of
(USD 1.3 billion) in Vietnam’s agricultural sector.
Agriculture: share of GDP vs. share of workforce
Source: The World Bank.
Employment
GDP Contributions
Lessons from India:
How AI is transforming agriculture.
Roughly half of India’s population – 730 million people – are dependent on the country’s agriculture system for their livelihood. As a leading producer of rice, wheat, cotton, sugar, and dairy worldwide, it is imperative that India’s arable land is made resilient to the effects of climate change and unsustainable farming practices.29
Google is helping to tackle these challenges through AI-powered technologies to progress agricultural sustainability. With ‘landscape understanding’, the research team is identifying irrigation structures and field segments through satellite imagery and machine learning. They are also developing ‘landscape monitoring’ models, which provide a more detailed picture of an individual field’s current performance and future needs. ‘Landscape understanding’ and ‘landscape monitoring’ can provide a detailed evaluation of an individual field’s current performance and future needs, using information like water availability over time to inform drought management strategies.
Improving data accuracy on field performance and environmental conditions enables farmers to reduce land use and use less water while increasing crop yields. This approach can improve food and water security in India and, with the right partnerships between governments, academic institutions, and local communities, can be introduced in Vietnam to make the agricultural landscape more resilient.
AI in action: Workforce upskilling.
As Vietnam’s economy shifts from agriculture to a greater focus on the manufacturing and services sectors, workers will need to learn new skills to contribute to and succeed in these industries.30 In the last quarter of 2024, over 70% of the workforce, or nearly 38 million workers, were found to lack formal education qualifications, indicating a skills gap in worker readiness to shift into Vietnam’s burgeoning sectors.31
Digital tutors could make it easier for people to learn new skills or transition to new careers. By offering personalised lessons, activities, and feedback, these AI digital tutors provide opportunities for people without formal education qualifications to advance their learning. In Vietnam, this could enable 11 million people who do not currently have access to adequate formal education to boost their skills.
We are already seeing enthusiasm, with
of people in Vietnam saying they would be interested in using a gen AI tool to help them learn a new skill.
ELSA Speak is revolutionising English learning with Google’s support.
ELSA Speak is an AI-powered English learning platform that helps non-native speakers improve their pronunciation and speaking fluency through cutting-edge speech recognition technology. Founded by Vu Van, a Vietnamese entrepreneur inspired by her own experience as a non-native English speaker studying at Stanford, ELSA Speak was created to address a challenge faced by millions around the world: being clearly understood in a second language. Although Vu had strong English vocabulary skills, she found that pronunciation could still create barriers to communication. Recognising that many of her international peers faced similar difficulties, she partnered with renowned speech technologist Dr. Xavier Anguera to build a tool that would offer personalised, accessible support for improving spoken English.
To enhance its capabilities and scale globally, ELSA Speak has partnered with Google to integrate advanced tools such as Google’s Speech-to-Text API. This collaboration has improved the platform’s accuracy, even in noisy settings or with diverse accents, and supported the development of ELSA AI – a personalised, context-driven speaking coach. With Google’s support, ELSA has expanded to reach over 25 million users across 195 countries, making high-quality English language learning more accessible than ever. Together, ELSA Speak and Google are equipping individuals with the communication skills essential for success in global education and the modern workforce.
“AI can play the role of anything we set it as… You don’t have to go and find a speaking partner, AI can be your speaking partner… [Students] can practice having [job] interviews, conversations with their friends. AI can play [whatever role they need] for practice.”
Mr. Michael Ngoê
Managing Director
ELSA Speak
Vietnam’s workforce potential.
Unlike many of its regional peers, Vietnam has a booming working age population. Over two-thirds of its population are of working age, with that share expected to grow for another 15 years.32
The productivity gains to be realised from an expanding working age population increasingly adopting AI are substantial. As the workforce grows, the potential for more workers to benefit from AI and become more productive also increases.
In our modelling, we found that the potential skills gains from AI could boost average worker productivity by
(USD 1,600) a year.
Vietnam’s massive, digitally-native talent pool ready to embrace AI
Source: United Nations World Population Prospects 2024