Vietnam Economic Times October 20, 2025

Dear readers,

During Vietnam’s digital transformation in general and in developing a digital economy in particular, data is considered an important resource and means of production, which, if effectively exploited and used, will contribute to improving workplace productivity, increasing product value, and even promoting the development of productive forces and changing modes of production.

Data is also a special commodity with high economic value that has a significant impact not only on the economy but also on society as a whole.

It is easy to understand why the development of data markets has now become an inexorable trend in almost every country, with data centers acquiring increasingly large capacity to meet needs in creating, updating, enriching, processing, and storing data as well as in exchanging and trading data, not only within a country or a region but also globally.

According to a report presented at the Data Center & Cloud Infrastructure (DCCI) Summit 2025, co-organized by Viettel IDC and partners on April 22 in Hanoi, the global data center market is forecast to reach approximately $345 billion in 2025 and will continue to maintain stable growth. In Vietnam, market size is forecast to reach $630 million this year and $1.1 billion by the end of the decade, for a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.8 per cent.

Market demand for data centers in the country is increasing quite strongly, including hyperscale data centers, which are seen as “data highways” for the era of AI and the digital economy. To meet demand, in addition to domestic investors, it is especially necessary to attract foreign capital.

To encourage the private sector to participate in building telecommunications infrastructure and other infrastructure for national digital transformation by 2030, approved in Decision No. 2161/QD-TTg, dated September 29, 2025, from the Prime Minister, which include data centers, cloud computing, physical-digital infrastructure, and digital utility infrastructure, etc., the private sector is asked to invest in building new, modern, large-scale data centers that meet international and green standards that provide services to the public nationwide. A goal has also been set of attracting at least two leading global technology companies to invest in building and operating large data centers and AI data centers in Vietnam.

Decision No. 2161 demonstrates the government’s strategic vision regarding the important role data centers play in national digital transformation in general and digital economic development in particular, especially the policy of attracting investment from leading global technology enterprises.

To provide readers with the latest information about the development and operation of data centers, or the “AI factories of the future”, in the face of rising demand in the data market and to ensure socio-economic development in Vietnam, in which foreign capital and technology are considered important investment sources, our Cover Story in this edition focuses on Vietnam’s incentive policies to attract more foreign investors to its data center market.

Warmest regards

Dr. CHU VAN LAM
CHAIRMAN OF THE EDITORIAL BOARD