Yesterday, February 10th, Vietnam's FPT Corporation and G42 from Abu Dhabi signed an agreement for $1 billion. This money will go towards building a network of data centers across the country. The main goal of the project is to create its own infrastructure so that Vietnamese companies can store and process data within the country, rather than on foreign servers.
Why does Vietnam need its own data centers?
Currently, most of the Vietnamese business data is stored on Microsoft, Google, or Amazon servers. This creates a dependence on global providers and increases the cost of international traffic.
The partnership between FPT and G42 should solve this problem. The new data centers will allow the development of "sovereign AI" - when the computing power and the data itself are located within the country. This is important for both security and compliance with local laws.
What the investments will be used for:
- Construction of sites: New data centers with modern cooling and a high degree of protection will appear in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang.
- Cloud platform: Creation of services adapted to the needs of local developers and the Vietnamese language.
- Employee training: Part of the budget will be allocated to the training of engineers who will maintain these systems.
Who is behind this
FPT is Vietnam's largest IT player with a huge staff of programmers. Their partner, G42, is a leading holding company from the UAE that specializes in large AI projects and cloud technologies. This agreement is another real step towards Vietnam's goal of entering the top 4 AI leaders in Southeast Asia by 2030.
What will this give to businesses?
For local companies and startups, this is a direct benefit:
- Speed: Servers within the country work faster than foreign ones.
- Price: Renting capacity from a local provider is usually cheaper than paying for international services.
- Security: Banks and the public sector will be able to store information without violating cybersecurity requirements.
The deal with G42 and the recent launch of the Viettel supercomputer confirm the country's course towards technological independence.