Vietnam - Japan promote research and development of strategic technology

Photo caption — Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Pham Quang Hieu delivered the opening speech at the seminar. Photo: Nguyen Tuyen/VNA reporter in Japan

Attending the seminar were a delegation from the Ministry of Science and Technology led by Party Central Committee member and Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Manh Hung; Vietnamese experts, intellectuals and businesses in Japan.

Speaking at the opening of the seminar, Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Pham Quang Hieu said that the Vietnamese community in Japan has more than 650,000 people, including nearly 1,000 experts, intellectuals and scientists, who are foreigners considered indispensable by Japan for the economic development and academic research of this country. The research results and achievements of Vietnamese scientists in Japan are very rich and diverse, not only published in prestigious academic journals, but also granted patents by Japan, which can be transferred to Japanese and foreign enterprises for development and commercialization, contributing great value to the final commercial product. The Ambassador emphasized that Vietnam's valuable intellectual resources in Japan need to be connected, promoted and transformed into economic value through state support and the commercialization process undertaken by the business sector.

Ambassador Pham Quang Hieu affirmed that the cooperative relationship between the state, scientists and businesses plays a key role in promoting innovation and developing science and technology .
With the desire to connect intellectual resources from Japan with Vietnam, the seminar focused on exchanging proposals for possible cooperation and the specific roles of relevant parties participating in proposing the implementation of a project to develop specialized chips for Vietnam. This is also a valuable opportunity for Vietnamese intellectuals in Japan to better understand the policies and orientations of the state and government in attracting, utilizing and calling on Vietnamese scientists abroad to participate in proposing the development of strategic technologies.

Within the framework of the seminar, there were 5 presentations, including the presentation "Introducing the SOT-MRAM Edge AI chip development project - Opportunity for cooperation in developing specialized chips for Vietnam" by Professor Pham Nam Hai, Deputy Head of the Faculty of Electrical and Electronics, Tokyo University of Science; the presentation "Developing strategic technology products: From national aspirations to opportunities for contributions of global Vietnamese intellectuals" by Associate Professor - Dr. Dao Ngoc Chien, Director of the National Foundation for Science and Technology Development - Nafosted, Ministry of Science and Technology; presentation “FPT with AI Bonsai Strategy” by Mr. Nguyen Vinh Quang, General Director of FPT Semiconductor; presentation “Cooperation in developing specialized AI chips, applications for personalized healthcare” by Mr. Tran Quoc Dung, General Director of Omigroup; and finally, presentation “Cooperation in research, development, and product testing between domestic and international universities” by Associate Professor - Dr. Dang Hoai Bac, Director of the Academy of Posts and Telecommunications.

In an interview with VNA reporters, Professor Pham Nam Hai said that the world is moving towards a revolution in artificial intelligence (AI), but all current AI systems run on the cloud and are controlled by giant companies in the world. There are three issues to note: AI systems use a lot of energy, put pressure on information transmission lines and personal information security factors. To solve these three issues, it is necessary to develop an end-to-end AI system for individuals and all processing is performed on the end-to-end device. In addition, it is also necessary to develop two core technologies for end-to-end AI, including memory technology and energy-saving AI architecture.

Mr. Pham Nam Hai said that his research lab is currently collaborating with some of the world's leading technology companies to develop memory technology applied to AI, called SOT-MRAM. When SOT-MRAM is successfully developed, combined with the architectures that have been developed and proven to operate with high energy efficiency, a startup will be established. Professor Pham Nam Hai expressed his hope that Vietnam can participate in this startup in the roles of capital investment, software development and terminal application development.

According to Professor Pham Nam Hai, for startups, the first step of raising capital is very important. The sooner startups can borrow capital from venture capitalists, the more benefits the venture capitalists will have later. He hopes that Vietnam will have a venture capital fund to invest in startups like his end-to-end AI company.

Regarding Minister Nguyen Manh Hung's idea of a venture capital fund for new technologies, Professor Pham Nam Hai said that this is a very innovative approach, because up to now there has been no venture capital fund for new technologies. Vietnam's establishment of a venture capital fund for new technologies will create opportunities for start-ups to receive capital to operate, avoid losing their rights to foreign enterprises and have conditions to strongly develop core technologies or new technologies in the world, especially in the field of AI.

Also at the seminar, representatives of the Ministry of Science and Technology, together with representatives of Vietnamese scientists and technology enterprises in Japan, exchanged ideas and discussed proposals related to promoting research and development of strategic technologies for Vietnam.

Speaking at the seminar, Minister Nguyen Manh Hung affirmed that the Vietnamese Government has identified semiconductor chips as a strategic technology industry. The opinions shared by Vietnamese scientists at the seminar demonstrated a humane, correct and appropriate approach for the Vietnamese people. In the trend of protecting the natural environment and ensuring the diversity of human society, the opinions of Vietnamese scientists at the seminar were in the direction of reducing energy consumption in line with the goal of protecting the environment and creating strength from the differences and diversity of people. Minister Nguyen Manh Hung pledged that the government will accompany and support Vietnamese scientists in their efforts to research and develop core technologies to serve the country's development.

At the seminar, Minister Nguyen Manh Hung and delegates officially launched the "VS.TID Intellectual Connection Platform". This is a digital platform that connects Vietnamese intellectuals abroad with domestic agencies and enterprises such as ministries, localities, institutes, schools, and enterprises.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/thoi-su/viet-nam-nhat-ban-thuc-day-nghien-cuu-phat-trien-cong-nghe-chien-luoc-20251003140019503.htm