Throughout its history, Vietnam has faced major challenges from foreign powers yet has consistently demonstrated remarkable bravery in the struggle for independence. The country impressed the world by overcoming formidable forces, from resisting the Mongol invasions to securing victory in the wars against France and the United States.

Rising from these hardships, Vietnam continues to capture global attention with a development story often described as miraculous. Its recent trajectory is marked by striking speed, agility, and resilience, underscoring the nation’s enduring capacity to adapt and advance.

Vietnam beyond the struggles

From one of the poorest countries in the world to a top 20 fastest-growing economy, Vietnam has undergone a remarkable economic transformation while demonstrating strong resilience in the face of global shocks.

From extreme poverty to sustained high growth

Before the economic reform known as Doi Moi in 1986, Vietnam remained among the poorest countries globally, with GDP per capita at just $235.7 in 1985. In less than 40 years, the country has increased its GDP per capita by 18 times, surpassing $4,300 in 2023 [1].

Over the past decade, Vietnam has consistently ranked among the world’s top 20 fastest-growing economies [2] and continues to post impressive results. The International Monetary Fund projects that Vietnam will remain in this group in 2024, staying among the 20 countries with the highest growth rates [3].

Resilience during the pandemic and the role of local enterprises

Vietnam’s economy has also shown notable resilience. While the COVID-19 pandemic caused global GDP to decline by 3.4% in 2020 [4], Vietnam was one of the few economies that managed to maintain positive growth [5].

This outcome stemmed from the government’s early and effective strategy of contact tracing, mass testing and targeted quarantining, which helped avoid large-scale lockdowns and limited disruptions to business-as-usual activities. Combined with investment incentives for sectors such as software production and high-tech industries, Vietnam remained attractive to global investors despite the pandemic. While worldwide FDI inflows fell by 35% in 2020, FDI into Vietnam declined by only 2%, placing the country among the top 20 most FDI-attractive economies [6].

A nationwide vaccination campaign then enabled Vietnam to reopen quickly and emerge as an appealing destination for supply chain diversification. To safeguard production and exports, vaccines were prioritized for workers in industrial parks, export processing zones and industrial zones. FPT’s employees were among the first to be vaccinated, marking the start of Vietnam’s largest-ever mass immunization drive, with nearly 9,000 people vaccinated in this initial phase.

Local enterprises actively supported the government in controlling outbreaks while maintaining business continuity. For instance, FPT offered free access to its AI-powered learning platform VioEdu, enabling thousands of students to study remotely during school closures. The company also helped local authorities deploy a voiceBot system that made voice calls to 1.2 million people and contributed to detecting thousands of infection cases.

Other companies within the FPT ecosystem, such as Long Chau pharmacy chain and FPT Software, joined efforts to ensure timely and efficient access to medicine. By leveraging technologies including AI and Cloud for operational optimization, they helped Long Chau halve service time, reduce stockout rates to 5%, and expand rapidly to improve medicine affordability and accessibility across the country.

These coordinated responses to the pandemic laid the foundation for a swift recovery. In 2022, Vietnam’s economy grew by 8.02% – its highest growth rate in 25 years [7], underscoring Vietnam’s ability not only to withstand crises but also to thrive in the new normal.

Vietnam as an emerging innovation hub

Vietnam has been a rising star on the global innovation map, with its digital economy growing at a CAGR of 8.9%, making it the fastest growing among 51 countries analyzed by the Financial Times [8]. The country is also one of only three nations that has consistently outperformed on the Global Innovation Index for 13 consecutive years [9].

Remarkably, the country’s technology industry has only emerged over the past few decades. In just over 20 years, the sector reached a value of US$148 billion in 2022, nearly 500 times larger than in 2000 [10], with local enterprises such as FPT leading the way and becoming the first Vietnamese corporation to achieve US$1 billion in global IT services (2023).

Vietnam has also become a favored investment destination, attracting US$36.61 billion of FDI in 2023, a 32.1% year-on-year increase [11]. To put this into perspective, Vietnam is among five nations that together have attracted more than 10% of global greenfield investment since 2017 [12].

Leading global companies have recognized the country’s immense potential and its contribution to securing global supply chain resilience, with corporations such as Panasonic, Foxconn, Canon, Qualcomm, and LG Electronics establishing manufacturing operations in the country. Beyond manufacturing, companies including Samsung, Lego, and Schaeffler see Vietnam as an enabler for actualizing their visions in digital transformation, sustainability, and research & development.

At the forefront of technological advancement, Vietnam now holds the potential to become a global powerhouse for AI and semiconductor development. With an ambition to be among the top 50 nations in AI development by 2030 [13], the country is actively encouraging AI R&D and collaboration among enterprises and organizations. FPT, one of the pioneering forces in AI development, has established its own AI center focused on research, development, and dedicated training programs to foster a new generation of AI engineers, and has formed partnerships with leading organizations such as NVIDIA, Landing AI, and Mila to advance AI research.

In parallel, Vietnam is emerging as a prime destination for semiconductor development, even being described as the most attractive location for US semiconductor companies by the president of the US Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) [14]. The country has attracted global chip manufacturers to set up production in Vietnam, including Intel’s largest factory for assembling, packaging, and testing chips [15], while local players such as FPT and Viettel are strengthening the country’s semiconductor capabilities.

Vietnam’s geopolitical advantages and bamboo diplomacy

Vietnam has combined favorable geography with a stable political environment to position itself as an attractive and sustainable investment destination. Located on the Indochina peninsula in Southeast Asia, the country shares land borders with China, Laos, and Cambodia, and is within close reach of major financial hubs and markets such as South Korea, Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong. With a coastline of more than 3,000 km, Vietnam enjoys direct access to the East Sea (or South China Sea), through which around 60% of global trade flows [16].

Building on these structural advantages, Vietnam has pursued a "bamboo diplomacy" strategy – a distinctive foreign policy inspired by the image of bamboo with "strong roots, stout trunk, and flexible branches" to embody independence, self-reliance, flexibility, and diversification of relations [17].

As of 2026, the country has established diplomatic relations with nearly 200 nations and signed 16 free trade agreements (FTAs) with almost 60 economies [18], including the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the EU–Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA). Notably, Vietnam has also formed comprehensive strategic partnerships with several of the world’s largest economies, including the US, the UK, the EU, China, South Korea, Japan, and Russia [19].

Robust human development for a future‑ready workforce

With education placed at the center of its development strategy, Vietnam has pursued continuous education reforms. This sustained focus has helped build a young, tech-savvy and future-ready workforce. The country now has over 530,000 people working in the ICT sector and around 57,000 students enrolling in computer science and IT-related majors each year [20]. Vietnam is among the nations with the highest number of IT graduates, reflecting a shared vision between public authorities and local companies.

As early as the 1990s, when computers were still considered a luxury, local enterprises such as FPT had already recognized the potential of Vietnamese developers, believing that strong STEM performers could become outstanding programmers. To build a technology-ready workforce capable of serving both domestic and international markets, local corporations invested early in IT-related training and education, with FPT Education among the pioneers. Established in 1999, the education group has expanded across the full range of educational levels, and its subsidiary FPT University became Vietnam’s first privately owned university.

Since its inception, FPT University has played an active role in shaping Vietnam's IT workforce by continuously equipping students with advanced technology expertise. The university has established a dedicated AI branch in Quy Nhon to provide training in emerging technologies such as machine learning, deep learning and computer vision, while enabling students to participate in real-life projects from other FPT subsidiaries. More recently, FPT University has set up the Department of Semiconductor and Microelectronics to offer in-depth training in IC design and to accelerate R&D for the industry. Thanks to the efforts of local enterprises such as FPT, Vietnam now has a highly qualified and knowledgeable workforce. Vietnamese workers are consistently ranked highly in skills analyses, including a top-10 position in Asia Pacific for skill proficiencies in business, technology and data science [21], and a top-10 ranking globally for best developers [22].

Building a digital nation: Vietnam's rapid progress in the 21st century

Entering the 21st century, Vietnam has set two major national goals: becoming a high-income country by 2045 and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, with digital transformation identified as a key driver to realize these targets [23]. Within this strategic vision, Vietnam aims to become a fully fledged digital nation by 2030, making notable progress in digitalizing public services (digital government), building a digital society, accelerating the digital economy, and strengthening digital infrastructure.

Vietnam's 7th position in the Asia-Pacific region on the 2022 Digital Society Index [24] underscores its advances in leveraging technology to improve citizens' quality of life. In 2023, the country recorded 77.93 million Internet users, equivalent to 71.9% of the population. At the same time, Vietnam has achieved 4G mobile broadband coverage of 99.8% and is among the first countries to move toward commercializing 5G, with plans to roll out services as early as 2024 [25].

To sustain its position as the fastest-growing digital economy in Southeast Asia [26], Vietnam is prioritizing the expansion and upgrading of digital infrastructure to meet the rising demands of both investors and citizens. The government has recently approved information and communications infrastructure planning for the coming years. Under this plan, Vietnam aims to improve data access and IoT infrastructure, targeting a place among the world's top 20 countries in the transition to IPv6 technology by 2025 [27]. The plan also sets out to provide 100% of households with access to fiber-optic cable services [28] and to raise smartphone ownership to 100% of the adult population by 2025 [29].

In parallel, Vietnam is accelerating the development of R&D and innovation infrastructure. The Hoa Lac High-Tech Park now hosts the National Innovation Center and FPT's F-ville campus, which is Vietnam's largest software outsourcing hub. Building on this foundation, the country plans to establish additional IT parks and R&D facilities nationwide, including specialized projects already under construction such as the AI Center in Quy Nhon initiated by FPT.

Vietnam in the new era of development

Fifty years after national unification, Vietnam has risen above the aftermath of war, advancing with remarkable speed, agility, and resilience. At the heart of this progress lies the solidarity between the government, individuals, and communities, which has provided a strong foundation for sustained development. Local enterprises, such as FPT, have also played a crucial role by contributing at every stage of the country’s growth.

As it enters a new era, Vietnam is setting even more ambitious goals, striving to join the high-income group and achieve net zero emissions. Although these objectives are highly challenging, both the government and the Vietnamese people have consistently demonstrated their determination to turn these visions into reality, positioning digital transformation as a key enabler.

Supported by leading technology companies, including FPT, Vietnam has already recorded early successes in recent years. These initial results signal that the country is on the right track toward realizing its long-term development and sustainability targets.