Vietnam Giant FPT aims to battle regional rivals in AI sector

FPT Corp., Vietnam’s largest listed technology company, has enabled the government to create a technology sector that can compete with its regional rivals.

To achieve this success, it has collaborated with Nvidia Corp. to create an AI data center in Vietnam and Japan, extending into semiconductor chip design.

The tech company is Vietnam’s seventh-largest publicly traded company, boasting a market value of $6.8 billion. The company employs over 80,000 people and operates in 30 different countries. 

Internationally, FPT counts 130 Fortune Global 500 companies, like Airbus SE, Halliburton Co., and Ford Motor Co., as clients. It has moved the nation beyond building Nike Inc. shoes and Apple Inc. devices, marking a significant milestone in the country.

Binh moves Vietnam from a low-cost economic center to a giant tech center

Truong Gia Binh established FPT, a technology company, four decades ago with a single computer in a room. The computer was borrowed from his then-father-in-law, General Vo Nguyen Giap, who won the admiration of generations of Vietnamese for leading the Vietnam People’s Army to victory over the French and US armies.

Binh’s life follows the story of the victorious North Vietnamese forces. In 1954, his family moved to Hanoi with revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh to support the fight for independence, according to the FPT chairman. They were very poor, so Binh wore clothes passed down from his sisters and witnessed US bombers dropping explosives on the city. 

Binh, now 69 and has met Ho Chi Minh twice, revealed that a shortage of almost everything marked his childhood.

Despite his challenges, he wanted to create a top-tier technology sector in Vietnam. The tech giant has been Vietnam’s way to move beyond being a low-cost economic center, explained Lam Nguyen, managing director of IDC Indochina. 

The Communist government views FPT as a model for helping the country shift from its traditional manufacturing roots to industries focused on areas like AI products, which Bain & Co. predicts could be worth $990 billion globally by 2027. 

During an interview, Binh stated that they were working day and night to take the company to greater heights. He speculates that the company can achieve an annual revenue growth rate of about 20% in the long run. Binh owns almost 7% of FPT Corp., with the government owning 5.71%.

FPT faces significant obstacles in its run to become the leading tech company 

FPT is preparing for global economic turbulence and can fine-tune its business plan for the tough 20% revenue increase this year on risks. DNSE Securities said this in a statement on its website, citing FPT Chief Executive Officer Nguyen Van Khoa at the company’s April shareholders’ meeting. The brokerage said FPT is lowering costs by 30% without harming the core business, citing Khoa.

Still, significant obstacles lie ahead for FPT as it tries to compete with more established tech firms from India and Malaysia. The tech giant also needs to deal with a new wave of tariffs set by President Donald Trump. 

Although FPT is not directly affected by new US tariffs, the company noted that it might face indirect impacts because many of its global customers are influenced by these tariffs.

It may also have to face the country’s ever-attentive police. When pressed on reports about the Ministry of Public Security, which has been strengthening internet regulations in recent years, wanting to hold a majority stake in the company’s internet unit, FPT Telecom, said it has “no further details about it.” 

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