Vietnam's To Lam pitches Japan-based scientists on AI and quantum ties

Vietnam's Party General Secretary and President To Lam used his official visit to Japan to press for deeper science and technology cooperation, telling a room of Vietnamese scientists and intellectuals in Japan on Sunday that they should become bridges between the two countries. He said their role is to connect expertise, experience and resources back to Vietnam's technological push, speaking at the meeting captured by VNA.

To Lam pointed to Japan as one of the world's leading scientific powers and said science, technology and innovation are becoming a new pillar of the Vietnam-Japan Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, which he described as developing substantively with high political trust. He named the fields he wants networks built around: innovation, space technology, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum technology, marine science and the marine economy, digital technology, rare earth exploration, medical technology, advanced biotechnology and hydrogen-powered high-tech agriculture.

The Vietnamese leader also wants the State, businesses and universities working together to pull in more Japanese investment projects with high technological content and added value, plus research and development, technology transfer and high-quality training inside Vietnam. He briefed the attendees on Vietnam's resolutions and decrees aimed at attracting overseas Vietnamese experts, including a conclusion on talent in strategic sectors adopted at the fourth plenum of the 14th Party Central Committee. Minister of Science and Technology Vu Hai Quan also spoke at the event.

Vietnamese specialists working in semiconductors, AI, quantum technology, robotics and biomedicine pitched proposals for strategic technologies and presented products already feeding into Vietnam's development. They pledged to train strong research teams, set up laboratories and build university-business partnerships in the spirit of Resolution 57.

Ambassador to Japan Pham Quang Hieu said the community has grown in both size and quality, with more than 260 Vietnamese scientists in Japan holding professorships, associate professorships or doctoral degrees and nearly 1,000 experts recognized there for high-level expertise in science, technology and management.