Around the world, countries are
00:05
investing billions in artificial
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intelligence, semiconductors, and other
00:09
strategic technologies. But,
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increasingly, the real competition isn't
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just for investment, it's for talent.
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Vietnam has emerged as one of Southeast
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Asia's fastest-growing innovation
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ecosystems, backed by a young workforce,
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a growing pool of engineers, and
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ambitious digital transformation goals.
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The question now is whether the country
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can develop and keep the talent needed
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to compete in tomorrow's technology
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economy. To understand where Vietnam
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stands today, let's first take a closer
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look at the country's innovation
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>> Vietnam's high-income and high-tech
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ambitions are closely intertwined.
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The country aims to move up the
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semiconductor value chain, become
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[music] a top-three ASEAN nation in AI
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But, technology alone will not deliver
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these goals. The World Bank says Vietnam
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needs [music] a major expansion of its
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tech talent, from more STEM graduates
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[music] to PhD-level researchers and
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experts who can turn research into
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market-ready products. [music]
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That means stronger R&D and closer links
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between universities, businesses,
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[music] and government. The challenge
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now is to turn Vietnam's growing talent
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base into the innovation capacity needed
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[music] to compete higher up the global
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>> To better understand what it takes to
01:31
build an innovation-driven economy, our
01:33
reporter, Huang Hung, spoke with Edward
01:35
Lim, country director of Block 71
01:38
Vietnam, part of the National University
01:40
of Singapore's Global Innovation
01:43
Network. His work focuses on connecting
01:44
entrepreneurs, universities, investors,
01:47
and businesses to strengthen innovation
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ecosystems across Vietnam and Southeast
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Asia. Let's take a look.
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>> First of all, thank you so much for
01:56
joining our Beast Live program.
01:58
>> Thank you. Thank you, Miss Hang.
02:00
>> The Vietnam innovation ecosystem has
02:02
made remarkable progress over the past
02:04
decade, uh supported by digital
02:07
transformation, government initiatives,
02:09
and also growing private investment. So,
02:12
from where you sit, what has changed the
02:14
most, and what is still missing for
02:17
Vietnam to become a truly
02:19
innovation-driven economy?
02:21
>> From what I observe,
02:24
what has changed is really that
02:26
has um not just become a startup story,
02:30
but it has changed to become a national
02:34
strategy. And what's behind all of this
02:36
really is Resolution 57.
02:39
And from what I see, it is a
02:42
because it is chaired personally by the
02:45
general secretary, so it is coming right
02:48
So, there is very strong political will
02:52
to push for innovation and breakthroughs
02:54
in science and technology.
02:57
Um that's it. There's also a lot of
03:00
And one of the key areas that I see
03:05
that can be improved is actually the
03:08
Right? Because there's inventions that
03:13
are being carried out in our Vietnamese
03:15
Uh however, at the same time, there's a
03:19
very big market in Vietnam as well, and
03:21
around the region. So, how do you
03:23
translate this research into the market?
03:25
>> Now, as countries compete for the
03:29
world's best tech talent, Vietnam is
03:31
increasingly recognized for its young
03:34
workforce and strong engineering base.
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So, what makes Vietnamese talent stand
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out in the eyes of uh global technology
03:41
>> Vietnamese tech talent is very hungry.
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And they are really, really very um
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good at what they do.
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Right, so the intellectual capacity from
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what we see is really strong.
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And this is based on PISA scores that we
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see, and even in the latest math
04:00
Olympiad, it's an international
04:03
competition. Like Vietnam emerged as one
04:05
of the very, very highly ranked teams,
04:08
and the world can see this.
04:11
what I can see that there is also
04:14
changing is that I think Vietnamese tech
04:17
talent not only want to bring in
04:20
solutions from other countries
04:24
and work on them, but also are beginning
04:26
to want to create their own solutions
04:29
>> Now, developing talent starts well
04:39
before people enter the workforce. So,
04:42
how can universities move beyond
04:44
producing graduates to become engines of
04:47
research, innovation, and
04:50
>> I think mindset is really the core of
04:54
it. Scientific discoveries, it comes out
04:56
of novelty. It comes out of
04:58
deep research into certain fields.
05:01
scientific research that comes out is
05:07
very novel, but may not solve a
05:09
particular pressing problem.
05:11
So, therefore, how do we get some of
05:14
this research to be deployed or even
05:17
commercialized into market? And that
05:19
actually takes a mindset shift to talk
05:22
to the researchers and the professors in
05:25
the university as the first point.
05:27
Second is on infrastructure.
05:30
A good infrastructure has to be
05:33
deliberately built over time.
05:36
For NUS itself, actually we have started
05:39
more than 20 years ago.
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One key example that we,
05:44
a program that we've been running is
05:47
called the NUS Overseas College.
05:49
And we started that in 2002 and we sent
05:51
students to Silicon Valley
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to get them exposed to a different
05:57
market for startups. And from there many
05:59
of these students came to start
06:02
And one of them is even a unicorn right
06:05
now called Carousell.
06:08
So, things are built deliberately over
06:11
time. Um how we do IP licensing, tech
06:13
transfer, training program, using
06:17
masters, setting up Block 71s over the
06:20
world. So, all this takes time.
06:23
The last point really is about
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incentives. Here the government also
06:27
plays the government and corporate plays
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an important role together with the
06:32
My government provides direction and
06:35
incentives. Corporates provide direction
06:37
in terms of what the workforce needs.
06:40
And then the universities can then
06:42
to produce the the type of graduates
06:46
>> Now, attracting talent is only half the
06:50
problem. How can Vietnam retain its
06:53
brightest minds while attracting global
06:55
expertise and overseas Vietnamese talent
06:58
to contribute to its innovation economy?
07:01
>> Attraction is definitely there because
07:05
we do see a wave of experts, overseas
07:07
Vietnamese, or just foreign talent
07:10
coming to Vietnam. I mean, I myself I'm
07:14
in Vietnam. It's a very very exciting
07:17
we are in the stage of building. This is
07:22
the golden era and I think people want
07:25
to come here and be part of the growth
07:27
story. And that is really what is
07:29
can be worked on further is also
07:34
facilitation of some of the regulations
07:36
when it comes to foreigners
07:40
coming into Vietnam to work. In terms of
07:42
incentives, when it comes to things like
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One example that Singapore has actually
07:50
deployed is a kind of tech pass to
07:53
attract investors and also top startup
07:56
founders from around the world to come
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to Singapore to work.
08:01
And for Vietnam as well, I do see
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a lot of changes that are happening.
08:05
Laws that are being passed to make it
08:08
easier for foreigners and also
08:10
overseas Vietnamese to come back to
08:13
Vietnam. And I think for example, the
08:15
IFC, the International Financial Center,
08:19
has its own set of regulations, rules,
08:22
and facilitation incentives to bring in
08:25
foreign experts in the financial sector
08:27
to work in the IFC. So, that is a very
08:30
good example as well.
08:32
>> Successful innovation ecosystem rely on
08:37
strong collaboration between
08:40
universities, corporations, investors,
08:42
and government. Looking at Vietnam
08:45
today, where do you see the strongest
08:47
partnership emerging and what gaps still
08:50
need to be addressed?
08:53
>> The strongest partnerships are the ones
08:55
that we see partners that are coming in
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in very good faith and really wanting to
09:01
produce concrete changes. Our recent
09:04
partnerships with Vietnamese
09:06
institutions like the PTIT, Post
09:08
and Institute of Technology, and as well
09:13
as FPT University. These are very
09:16
concrete collaborations that we are
09:19
having and we are moving really fast,
09:21
very quickly. Right from conversation to
09:23
actual tangible projects that are being
09:26
deployed. Together with them, we are
09:29
working on exciting things like
09:31
accelerator programs to bring in
09:33
Japanese startups, Singapore startups
09:36
into the Vietnam market. Um so, what I
09:38
really hope to see is that uh you know,
09:41
every time we sign agreements or MOUs,
09:44
translated into tangible projects. Uh in
09:48
our new program, we are expected to also
09:52
work with Singapore companies in the
09:55
consumer and retail uh value chain to
09:57
see how we can attract Vietnamese
10:00
startups, Japanese startups, Singapore
10:02
startups to solve problems um that the
10:05
problem statements in the digital value
10:08
chain here in Vietnam. So, that they can
10:10
adopt and scale further in this uh
10:13
>> Singapore has built a highly
10:16
international uh technology and startup
10:18
ecosystem. So, what lessons can Vietnam
10:21
learn from Singapore?
10:25
>> I would say the first point is
10:27
Consistency is about doing small but
10:30
boring things the same way every day.
10:32
And we have been quietly doing that over
10:36
the decades. Uh so, people ask, "What is
10:38
the secret sauce?" Um actually, even our
10:42
minister, Minister Chan Chun Sing, he
10:45
himself said that there's no secret
10:47
Because um the true success is about the
10:50
small little things that we put our
10:53
hearts and minds to do uh every single
10:55
day. Secondly, is regulatory clarity.
10:58
If uh companies and innovators have a
11:02
clear set of rules that they are
11:07
familiar with, um there's a lot more
11:09
certainty. They know how to predict,
11:11
they know how to navigate uh the system.
11:14
Thirdly, is of course um the capital
11:16
Right? Uh because Singapore has now
11:20
become a very strong capital market.
11:23
And that also means it's easier for
11:29
people to fund raise
11:30
and to look for more opportunities.
11:32
Right. So, these are the three areas
11:35
I I would say makes Singapore where it
11:39
um today. And Vietnam has its own set of
11:43
strengths as well. So, we can always
11:46
complement each other.
11:48
>> Looking ahead, if Vietnam gets the
11:50
talent and innovation ecosystem right,
11:51
where do you see the country fitting
11:55
into the global technology landscape
11:57
over the next decade?
11:59
>> Vietnam could potentially play a huge
12:01
in the innovation ecosystem.
12:05
And for me, I think that's where
12:07
software can meet hardware.
12:09
Um one wave that we are seeing right
12:12
now, the next bound of AI,
12:15
is actually something called uh embodied
12:18
Because this is harder to train.
12:23
Um how do you train an AI to understand
12:26
and recognize physical space?
12:29
Or even things like physical sensory
12:31
Um and this is something that Vietnam
12:36
could play a huge role because there's a
12:38
huge manufacturing base here.
12:41
so, manufacturing is also about
12:44
And at the same time, we talk about tech
12:48
talent here in Vietnam. So, that's where
12:50
uh the leadership has talking has been
12:54
talking a lot about technology
12:56
And that's where from my observation,
13:00
Singapore partners like Singapore and
13:03
Korea, are very very uh interested to
13:06
work with uh Vietnam on this, right?
13:09
Japan has very good technologies.
13:11
Uh Singapore has deep capital markets.
13:14
So, if we could blend and complement the
13:18
strengths of all these different
13:21
partners, uh it would really create a
13:22
very strong ecosystem here uh in Asia.
13:24
And definitely Vietnam gets to play a
13:28
very critical role in all of this. And I
13:30
think tremendous progress
13:33
will be made in the next 5 years.
13:35
Because of the political will to do so.
13:39
And we see that as a very important
13:43
factor, right? The push has to come from
13:46
Companies are now very willing
13:49
to also ride on this momentum and work
13:51
with the government. We talk a lot about
13:54
partnerships. So with all of these
13:56
things in play, what we could see is
13:59
within the next 5 to 10 years,
14:01
breakthroughs will happen in this space.
14:03
>> Once again, thank you so much for being
14:06
>> Thank you. Thank you so much.
14:08