Vietnam Secures Over $7 Billion in AI Data Center Investments, Emerging as a Regional Enterprise Hub

Vietnam's AI Infrastructure Boom Reshapes Southeast Asia's Digital Landscape January 2, 2026 Vietnam is rapidly transforming into a major hub for artificial intelligence and enterprise computing, attracting a wave of data center investments exceeding $7 billion announced in the past six months. This surge, driven by new regulatory frameworks and a state-led digital strategy, is creating a specialized infrastructure ecosystem that promises to alter how companies deploy critical systems across Southeast Asia. The momentum continued this week with the announcement by Create Capital Vietnam and Haimaker.ai of a joint venture, Vietnam Data Gen (VDG), planning to invest approximately $1 billion in a nationwide, AI-focused data center network. The project will be developed in phases, starting in Da Nang, with facilities designed to support GPU-intensive workloads for government entities, financial institutions, telecom operators, and technology firms. This follows a series of major projects that collectively signal a strategic pivot. The market is evolving into a layered structure with distinct segments. For AI-specialized capacity, VDG aims to build 100 MW of phased capacity, while Kinh Bac City Development is developing a $2 billion AI campus in Tan Phu Trung with 200 MW of capacity designed to house roughly 100,000 GPUs for large-scale model training. In the commercial hyperscale segment, state-owned Viettel is advancing two facilities totaling 200 MW, and CMC Corporation is rolling out 120 MW across key cities. Furthermore, an international hub is forming, highlighted by a proposed $2 billion "AI Factory" in Ho Chi Minh City from UAE-based G42 and facilities by ST Telemedia in partnership with local firm VNG for multinational clients. Google is also reportedly considering its first large-scale data center investment in the country. This flurry of activity is underpinned by concrete policy incentives. Vietnam's new AI law, effective March 2026, mandates pre-market conformity for high-risk AI systems in sectors like finance and healthcare, creating a structured environment for investment. Coupled with state-led digital sovereignty initiatives and regional capacity constraints, these factors are forging a highly competitive market. The specialization of infrastructure now offers businesses diverse options to match their specific latency, cost, and computational requirements, moving away from a one-size-fits-all model. For enterprise technology, particularly Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, the implications are profound. The expanded network makes deployment models once considered cost-prohibitive—such as multi-site instances, real-time disaster recovery, and regional failover systems—increasingly feasible within Vietnam. Companies with shifted supply chains or operations to the country can now host their ERP systems and critical data locally, benefiting from lower latency, greater reliability, and easier regulatory compliance. With construction costs and electricity rates among the lowest in the region, Vietnam presents a cost-competitive alternative to traditional hubs like Singapore for hosting high-performance enterprise infrastructure, positioning itself as a strategic node for regional IT strategies. Source: erp