Vietnam - Malaysia foster cooperation in digital transformation, data, and artificial intelligence

On 15 January, Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Manh Hung held a bilateral working session with the Malaysian Minister of Digital, Mr. YB Tuan Gobind Singh Deo, to exchange cooperation orientations in digital transformation, data, and AI.

The meeting took place in the background that digital transformation is becoming a new growth driver for the region, as ASEAN nations face the requirement to simultaneously accelerate digital economic development while ensuring data sovereignty, cybersecurity, and technological autonomy.

In this landscape, Vietnam and Malaysia are evaluated as two countries with rapid digital infrastructure development speeds, actively seeking substantive cooperation models linked to the needs of enterprises and the market.

Data and data centers: The foundation of digital cooperation

During the working session, Malaysian Minister of Digital YB Tuan Gobind Singh Deo highly appreciated Vietnam's progress in building digital infrastructure, particularly the 5G network and the data ecosystem. The Minister stated that over the past two years, Malaysia has intensified investment in data centers and considers this one of the strategic priorities of its digital economy.

Minister YB Tuan Gobind Singh Deo emphasized that Malaysia is strongly promoting data center development and wishes to expand this ecosystem to the entire ASEAN scope. He noted that digital transformation allows for more cross-border work; therefore, countries in the region need to support each other for mutual development.

According to the Malaysian Minister, regional cooperation on data will create conditions for digital enterprises to thrive while enhancing the collective competitiveness of ASEAN.

From the Vietnamese side, Minister Nguyen Manh Hung stated that Vietnam is perfecting its legal framework to create favorable conditions for investment in data centers, regarding them as the key infrastructure of the digital economy.

The Minister affirmed that Vietnam allows foreign investors to own 100% of capital in the data center sector and is continuing to research more flexible legal mechanisms for data storage and processing, in line with international practices.

According to Minister Nguyen Manh Hung, data today is not just an input for technology but has become a new type of resource with strategic significance for socio-economic development. Therefore, cooperation in the field of data and data centers is not merely a technical story but is also associated with building trust, harmonizing institutions, and ensuring long-term interests between nations.

During the exchange, the two sides agreed to continue sharing experiences in building data policies, developing data centers, and ensuring information security, considering this an important foundation to promote other areas of digital cooperation.

Connecting enterprises and expanding ASEAN cooperation space

A content particularly emphasized by the two Ministers is the role of digital technology enterprises in realizing cooperation orientations.

Minister Nguyen Manh Hung noted that Vietnam currently has about 75,000 ICT enterprises, with annual revenue estimated at 165 billion USD, and many enterprises are in need of expanding markets and providing digital products and services to the region.

The Minister requested the Malaysian side to create conditions for Vietnamese digital technology enterprises to access the market, especially in the fields of software, ICT services, data, and digital solutions for management, production, and logistics.

On the Malaysian side, Minister Gobind Singh Deo expressed readiness to promote connection activities between the two countries' businesses through existing cooperation mechanisms.

Minister Gobind Singh Deo stated that Malaysia is coordinating with functional agencies and promotion organizations to build digital business connection programs, while proposing the organization of a Vietnam-Malaysia digital technology business forum in the near future.

The Malaysian Minister noted that they are ready to begin specific exchanges immediately to identify priority cooperation areas.

Regarding AI, Minister Nguyen Manh Hung argued that AI needs to be placed within the overall digital infrastructure and data, linked to the specific development needs of each country and the ASEAN region.

The Minister of Science and Technology clearly stated that AI cooperation between Vietnam and Malaysia needs to aim for practical applications, suited to the conditions of ASEAN countries, while ensuring safety, reliability, and sustainable development.

The two sides agreed to continue exchanging at the professional level and research the possibility of forming specific cooperation programs in digital transformation, data, and AI. These contents not only contribute to promoting bilateral relations between Vietnam and Malaysia but also play an active role in the process of building a connected, inclusive, and developing ASEAN digital space.

From a policy perspective, the exchange between the Vietnamese Minister of Science and Technology and the Malaysian Minister of Digital shows that digital cooperation in ASEAN is shifting from slogans to specific policy choices, and from joint statements to implementation problems.

When data, data centers, and digital enterprises become the pillars of growth, such frank and substantive dialogues are seen as an important foundation for ASEAN to step-by-step form a cohesive, trusted digital space capable of shaping its own future development./.

Copyright belongs to the Vietnam Journal of Science and Technology (VJST-MOST).