Vietnam Innovation Summit 2025: Bridging Innovation with Growth

As Vietnam eyes a Top-30 global innovation ranking, VIS 2025 aims to mobilize industries, government, and entrepreneurs toward collaborative progress.

Vietnam is on a path to make innovation part of its everyday fabric. With ambitions to rank among the world’s top 30 innovation economies in the next 5–10 years, the country is pushing beyond policy statements. The Vietnam Innovation Summit 2025 (VIS 2025), under the theme “Building Bridges to Innovation and Growth,” is designed to catalyze this shift. The event will be held on November 6–7, 2025, in Ho Chi Minh City, co-hosted by InnoLab Asia, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Science & Technology, and Doanh Nhân Sài Gòn Magazine.

VIS 2025 marks a turning point — not just in scale, but in ambition and structure. With over 3,000 expected participants and more than 150 experts from 30+ countries, it aims to serve as a hub where ideas, capital, technology, and markets converge.

Crafting an Innovation Ecosystem

The summit structure is built around four experience zones:

• Inno Stage: high-level panels on innovation policy, global trends, and strategic thinking
  
• Beyond Stage: sector-focused deep dives (AI, fintech, ESG, smart manufacturing, green finance)
  
• Connect Stage: exhibitions showcasing technology and solutions from startups, SMEs, corporations, regional hubs
  
• Collab Stage: 1:1 meeting zone to facilitate direct connections — startup to investor, corporate to tech provider, international to local partner
  

Alongside these, side events like tech exhibitions, investment networking, and matching sessions will run parallel — with the goal of turning conversations into actionable partnerships.

Momentum from Vietnam’s Rising Digital Economy

Vietnam’s digital economy is already showing signs of strength. According to InnoLab Asia, the country is targeting growth across e-commerce, fintech, smart manufacturing, logistics, and supply chains. With that backdrop, VIS 2025 is positioned to help accelerate the alignment of business strategy and innovation policy.

During her keynote, Ms. Truc Phan, Deputy Head of the Technology Management Department at the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Science and Technology, discussed Resolution 98, a new framework guiding corporate innovation in the city. The policy outlines how businesses can integrate emerging technologies like AI, embrace ESG principles, and accelerate digital transformation, particularly within large enterprises. It also emphasizes stronger backing for startups and ecosystem enablers.

Ms. Phan also highlighted the launch of SIHUB (Startup and Innovation Hub) — an initiative designed to serve as a bridge connecting enterprises, investors, and accelerator networks, helping to coordinate resources and foster collaboration across the innovation landscape.

These government initiatives help reduce friction for innovation — through funding, regulatory clarity, and infrastructure support.

Voices of Support: Global and Regional Perspectives

Ted Osius, President & CEO of the US–ASEAN Business Council (USABC) and former U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam, emphasized Vietnam’s growing role in regional supply chains:

“Vietnam plays a critical role in the regional value chain … As the fastest-growing market in ASEAN, Vietnam has the potential to become a logistics and manufacturing hub as infrastructure like Long Thanh Airport comes online.”

He sees USABC’s network of nearly 190 global corporations as a bridge to Vietnam’s innovative startups and SMEs, and he hopes VIS 2025 can cement that link.

From a regional standpoint, Peter Mok, General Manager at the Shenzhen Qianhai-Hong Kong Youth Innovation Hub, cited Vietnam’s demographic edge and cost advantages:

“Vietnam’s young, dynamic, and well-educated population is evolving into a high-quality tech workforce. Combined with competitive production costs and forward-looking policies, the country is becoming a magnet for global investment.”

He views VIS 2025 as a window for international firms to tap into local insights, collaborate with Asian tech hubs, and boost regional linkages.

A Launchpad for Vietnamese Enterprises

VIS 2025 is intended not just as a showcase, but as a launchpad. For Vietnamese startups and enterprises, the summit offers:

• Access to capital: investor matchmaking, 1:1 meetings
  
• Exposure to technology & ideas: exhibitions, global case studies
  
• Market entry channels: partnerships, linkages to foreign ecosystems
  
• Learning & capability building: insights into transforming operations, green growth, talent development
  

Huỳnh Công Thắng, Founder & Chairman of InnoLab Asia, describes the summit’s purpose succinctly:

“VIS 2025 is not just a discussion forum. It’s an action platform. Here, Vietnamese businesses can discover emerging technologies, learn from global case studies, and form partnerships to digitalize, green their operations, and reach international markets.”

Key themes at the summit will include digital transformation, smart infrastructure, high-tech talent development, a green economy, sustainable finance, and cross-border growth.

What Recent Editions Reveal

Looking back, VIS 2024 handled around 1,500 participants and engaged companies from 20+ countries. In 2024, AsiaTechDaily observed how the summit strengthened international collaborations — for instance, Malaysian tech firms used the platform to strike deals in solar financing and KPI software. The event also benefitted from government support: a delegation from Western Australia, backed by its government, attended to showcase its ecosystem and explore partnerships.

These precedents show that VIS is growing in influence — evolving from a regional gathering into a magnet for cross-border innovation.

A Turning Point in Vietnam’s Innovation Journey

As Vietnam aims to enter the world’s top 30 innovation economies, VIS 2025 isn’t just another tech event — it’s a statement of intent. The country is seeking to institutionalize innovation: embedding it in enterprise culture, policy, and ecosystem.

Success will depend on execution — turning ideas into collaboration, and collaborations into impact. For startups, SMEs, corporates, and investors, VIS 2025 presents a timely opportunity: to leap beyond domestic bounds, shape narratives, and widen Vietnam’s reach on the global innovation map.