New wave of data center investment in Viet Nam

Domestic technology enterprises such as VNPT, Viettel, CMC, FPT, and VNG are actively expanding their data center infrastructure. Remarkably, CMC, the second-largest technology corporation in Viet Nam, plans to invest up to US$500 million in data centers in Viet Nam, Japan, and several other countries from now to 2028.

Viettel, the nation's largest telecommunications group, is also actively participating in the race, planning to develop 11 large-scale data centers with a total capacity of over 350 MW, accounting for 40 percent of the country's total capacity. Notably, Viettel will collaborate with the U.S. tech giant NVIDIA to develop AI data center infrastructure, integrating nearly 800 supercomputers and 6,000 GPU cards.

CEO of the Viettel Internet Data Centre (IDC) Hoang Van Ngoc estimated that to meet Viet Nam's current technological demands—including AI development and cloud computing—for a population of 100 million, the country's data center capacity needs to expand 15 times from its current capacity.

Not only Vietnamese technology companies are accelerating the expansion of data center infrastructure, but international tech firms such as Amazon, Microsoft, Supermicro, ST Telemedia Global Data Centers, Google and Alibaba are expressing strong interest and actively pouring more investment in the Southeast Asian nation.

According to the latest report from Cushman & Wakefield, Viet Nam has a significant advantage in data center investment, with an average construction cost of US$6.9 million per MW, among the lowest in the Asia-Pacific region, compared to China (US$7.1 million), Thailand (US$7.6 million), Indonesia (US$8.7 million), and Malaysia (US$9 million).

Trang Bui, CEO of Cushman & Wakefield Viet Nam, held that with competitive construction costs and a favorable geographic location, Viet Nam has great potential to become a major data center hub in the region.

Additionally, Viet Nam is becoming more open to foreign investments, and a series of administrative reforms are creating greater opportunities for international investors while driving the growth of Viet Nam's data center industry. Leading tech giants such as Apple, Intel, Canon, Samsung, LG, LEGO, and Airbus have all shown interest in the Vietnamese market, she noted.

Viet Nam's data center market was valued at US$654 million in 2024, and is projected to reach US$1.75 billion by 2030, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.93 per cent, according to Research and Markets./.