Korea Telecom wants to build AI data center in Vietnam

The center would address the region’s growing technological demands and improve Vietnam’s digital ecosystem, chairman of the South Korean telco, Young Shub Kim, told Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Chi Dung in Hanoi Monday.

The company also wants to partner with state-owned telecommunications giant Viettel for AI development, innovation and digital transformation, he added.

Korea Telecom is a major telecom provider with the most extensive network in South Korea that excels in 5G, broadband Internet, AI, cloud computing, and data center technologies.

Dung told Kim that science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation are key to restructuring Vietnam’s economy and driving growth in the current era.

He identified AI as a cornerstone for advancing these goals.

He promised support for Korea Telecom’s collaboration with Vietnamese tech giants like Viettel for technology transfer, workforce training and AI ecosystem development.

He also endorsed the firm’s plans to establish the AI data center and a global development center to create AI solutions and foster talent for the Southeast Asian market.

He said the Korean company should tailor the AI data center to Vietnam’s socioeconomic and technological conditions and share its expertise in operations and management.

He called on Korea Telecom and Viettel to engage in detailed discussions to expedite project implementation.

He also suggested that the former should partner with Vietnam’s National Innovation Center and local universities to establish programs for training AI engineers and creating academic collaborations between Vietnamese and South Korean institutions to develop high-caliber AI talent.

"The government is committed to supporting and facilitating foreign businesses, including South Korean, to invest and operate smoothly and sustainably in Vietnam."