FPT advances digital healthcare strategy in Vietnam with AI-led public-private model

Vietnamese technology leader FPT Corporation has proposed a sweeping public-private partnership (PPP) framework to accelerate Vietnam’s digital healthcare transformation, leveraging artificial intelligence, biotech innovation, and centralized data infrastructure. The initiative, jointly unveiled with Pharma Group at the Healthcare Innovation Forum 2025 (HIF 2025) in Hanoi, signals a strategic alignment between the country’s digital ambitions and global healthcare investment trends.

Hosted with support from the Vietnamese government, the event drew participation from Deputy Prime Minister H.E. Le Thanh Long, U.S. Ambassador Marc Knapper, Swiss Ambassador Thomas Gass, former German Vice Chancellor Dr. Philipp Rösler, and healthcare innovation leaders from Japan, Singapore, and Harvard Medical School. At the forum, stakeholders emphasized AI and data as critical pillars for reconfiguring Vietnam’s public health infrastructure, building on the nation’s long-term socioeconomic development blueprint: Vision 2045.

Why Vietnam is prioritizing healthcare innovation in Vision 2045

Vietnam’s Vision 2045 outlines the country’s ambition to achieve high-income status by mid-century. Within this framework, the government has identified healthcare as a key national priority, not only for quality of life and social stability but also for human capital development and technological competitiveness.

At HIF 2025, Deputy PM Le Thanh Long outlined a five-pronged modernization strategy: integrate AI and IoT across the health system, accelerate biotech research, support pharmaceutical innovation, foster PPP-based infrastructure growth, and increase global collaboration.

This aligns with Resolution 57, a policy framework promoting institutional reform to support advanced technologies in critical sectors, especially healthcare and pharmaceuticals. Institutional observers see these initiatives as an effort to modernize Vietnam’s health outcomes while creating fertile ground for investment in AI, digital therapeutics, and clinical research.

FPT positions AI as the catalyst for Vietnam’s healthcare leap

FPT Corporation Chairman Dr. Truong Gia Binh called on government regulators and private sector players to embrace regulatory innovation and collaborative data-sharing to fast-track Vietnam’s healthcare modernization.

“Vietnam can become a global leader in AI-powered clinical trials and drug development by mobilizing our tech talent,” said Dr. Binh. “With one million IT workers—half capable of AI—this is our moment to create a health innovation ecosystem that rivals global hubs.”

According to FPT’s vision, digitalization will be anchored on three pillars: 1) regulatory reforms to simplify market entry and approvals; 2) innovation incentives for biotech and digital pharma; and 3) public-private platforms to unify hospitals, research institutions, and medical professionals.

FPT plans to establish interoperable data systems that integrate AI algorithms across clinical workflows—from diagnostics to drug development. The group aims to replicate Vietnam’s software success in healthcare, pointing to the country’s previous ascent as a global outsourcing hub in the 2000s.

Pharma Group emphasizes multi-stakeholder alignment

Pharma Group, which represents 20 multinational pharmaceutical firms in Vietnam, including members from Europe, Japan, and the United States, reiterated its long-term commitment to investing in local health outcomes.

“Only sustained collaboration can translate policy into lasting public health improvements,” said Pharma Group Chairman Darrell Oh. “Our member companies are aligned with Vietnam’s Vision 2045 and are ready to co-invest in digital, safe, and accessible healthcare systems.”

Pharma Group operates under the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham) and is a member of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA). The organization works closely with Vietnamese regulators to promote faster access to medicines, technology transfer, and transparent policy design.

Industry experts noted that Vietnam’s openness to foreign direct investment in healthcare—particularly digital health and life sciences—is seen as a growth corridor amid regional competition from Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia.

AI and GenAI reshape Vietnam’s pharmaceutical R&D playbook

In one of the forum’s most detailed presentations, Hoang Viet Anh, Chairman of FPT Digital and FPT Telecom, laid out a five-year roadmap for integrating AI and GenAI across Vietnam’s pharmaceutical ecosystem.

According to recent industry surveys cited by FPT, 80% of global pharmaceutical professionals now rely on AI in drug discovery. Over 95% of companies surveyed have allocated budgets to AI initiatives. These tools can shorten drug development cycles from 5–6 years to under one, while reducing costs of clinical trials by up to 70%.

FPT Corporation’s strategic roadmap through 2028 outlines a phased transformation of Vietnam’s healthcare ecosystem, with a strong emphasis on artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure. In 2025, the Vietnamese technology group plans to launch a centralized health data architecture alongside pilot AI laboratories to lay the foundation for data-driven drug development and clinical research. Building on that, 2026 will see the introduction of blockchain-based trials aimed at ensuring end-to-end traceability and authenticity in the pharmaceutical supply chain, particularly to combat counterfeit medications.

By 2027, FPT targets a 20% reduction in clinical trial durations by applying AI modeling and real-time patient data analytics to streamline recruitment, monitoring, and outcome assessments. The culmination of this strategy is Vietnam’s emergence as the leading AI hub for pharmaceutical innovation in the ASEAN region by 2028, positioning the country as a competitive player in global health-tech and biotech R&D.

FPT envisions full-spectrum transformation—from pre-clinical modeling to post-approval patient monitoring—anchored by predictive AI, secure health records, and decentralized data sharing.

Regulatory flexibility and PPPs viewed as critical enablers

During a roundtable discussion at HIF 2025, policy analysts and technology leaders agreed on three core enablers for Vietnam’s healthcare innovation goals: 1) legal adaptability, 2) cross-sector data collaboration, and 3) public-private investment coordination.

Participants emphasized the need to streamline drug approval processes, establish adaptive data privacy laws, and create frameworks that enable startups, hospitals, and multinationals to share research data securely.

FPT CTO Vu Anh Tu said the group is working toward establishing AI-assisted hospitals and remote health monitoring systems as part of a broader telemedicine push. “With AI-powered platforms, we can deliver faster diagnoses, improve trial efficiency, and ultimately democratize access to care,” he noted.

He added that FPT is open to partnerships with international AI research institutions and health-tech startups to jointly solve infrastructure and R&D bottlenecks.

Investor interest growing in Vietnam’s AI-driven healthcare sector

Although FPT Corporation is not listed on a U.S. exchange, it remains one of Vietnam’s most prominent digital infrastructure players with global clients in over 30 countries. The group’s healthcare division has secured partnerships with Long Chau Pharmacy, Zuellig Pharma, Hitachi Medical Devices, and MedAdvisor.

Institutional observers view FPT’s expansion into pharmaceuticals and healthcare technology as a logical extension of its AI capabilities. Analysts expect the group’s focus on digital healthcare to contribute meaningfully to revenue diversification by 2026.

Vietnam’s healthcare spending currently represents 6.6% of GDP—lower than the regional average—creating headroom for structural investment growth. With AI adoption rates increasing globally, Vietnam’s early positioning could make it a prime destination for clinical R&D outsourcing and biotech trials.

What’s next: From policy to execution

Following the outcomes of HIF 2025, the Vietnamese government is expected to outline updated national guidelines for AI and digital health in the second half of 2025. This may include regulatory sandbox models for pilot technologies, updated data use frameworks, and new criteria for health-tech investment incentives.

FPT and Pharma Group indicated their intent to maintain ongoing multi-sector dialogues and jointly develop working groups focused on data interoperability, drug access, and clinical research acceleration.

With strong political backing and growing investor interest, Vietnam’s digital health agenda appears poised to shift from blueprint to execution in the coming quarters.