Bangkok – Thailand is rapidly developing artificial intelligence (AI) for fraud detection, according to SAS Institute, a global leader in the data and AI field.

The country’s financial sector is expected to see collaboration in risk management and fraud management to tackle new financial crime in an end-to-end prevention process, said the company as reported by the local news site Bangkok Post.

Thailand has strong regulatory frameworks and collaboration among banks. This aligns with successful models in Australia, Europe and Hong Kong in combating financial crime, stated Ian Holmes, SAS director and global lead for enterprise fraud solutions.

Holmes added that Thailand is embracing technology to combat financial crime, including real-time payment protection to safeguard against fraud in digital transactions.

He said that the wider adoption of AI is transforming the fraud detection and anti-money laundering processes. The use of Thailand’s digital ID will also speed up identity verification, requiring AI to ensure secure and fast processing.

The groundbreaking ceremony of VSIP II Quang Ngai Industrial Park in Quang Ngai province, Photo: Tang Thu

Numerous industrial parks (IPs) have received approval already this year in provinces such as Thai Nguyen, Bac Giang, and Binh Phuoc. Earlier this month, the groundbreaking ceremony for Song Cong II IP took place in the northern province of Thai Nguyen. The project spans almost 300 hectares, with a total investment of nearly $160 million.

A few weeks previously, Bac Ninh People’s Committee, also in the north, granted approval to Nghia Hung, My Thai, Song Mai-Nghia Trung, and Dong Phuc IPs.

In the central region, VSIP II Quang Ngai IP became the newest player in the field after the groundbreaking ceremony on March 12 with attendees coming from the government, and National Assemly Chairman Tran Thanh Man and Deputy Chairman Vu Hong Thanh. The initiative is located in Dung Quat Economic Zone with a total area of 498ha, and has a total investment of nearly $158 million.

Moving south, Bac Dong Phu IP, in Dong Xoai city of Binh Phuoc province, has been approved with a total investment of nearly $55 million and a land area of over 300 ha.

Speaking with VIR, Nguyen Thuong Lang, a senior lecturer at the National Economics University, highlighted that abundant foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows were a key driver behind the expansion of the industrial estate sector.

“The development of the industrial field, especially foreign investment in manufacturing, will be the main force driving the value of industrial real estate. According to the latest report from the Foreign Investment Agency, nearly 70 per cent of FDI inflows into Vietnam are directed towards manufacturing. Therefore, the upward trend in industrial real estate prices is both logical and inevitable,” Lang said.

According to the report released at the end of February, the manufacturing and processing sector led in attracting FDI, with slightly over $3.1 billion, marking a 50.6 per cent on year increase.

Lang also predicted strong growth in the industrial real estate market, suggesting that land rental prices will increase, particularly in prime locations.

Building on Lang’s prediction, Nguyen Hoai An, senior director at CBRE Hanoi Branch, said that over the next three years, industrial land rental fees are expected to increase by 4-8 per cent annually in the northern region and by 3-7 per cent annually in south.

“The primary drivers of this growth are the continuous development of new IPs, particularly in key markets such as Haiphong and Vinh Phuc in the north, as well as Binh Duong, Dong Nai, and Long An in the south,” An said.

An also pointed out that the expansion was not limited to traditional areas, as the development wave is spreading to central provinces like Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, and Quang Nam. In these emerging markets, professional developers are implementing new IP projects, helping to put these regions on Vietnam’s industrial map.

“For the ready-built warehouse and factory segment, rental prices are forecasted to rise slightly by 1-4 per cent per year during the same period. Although new supply remains high in both key industrial regions, demand for ready-built warehouses and factories is also showing signs of growth,” An added.

Discussing the outlook for the industrial real estate sector, Pham Thi Mien, deputy head of Market Research, Consulting and Investment Promotion, under the Vietnam Association of Real Estate Brokers, highlighted that the supply of new IPs was set to soar.

“Between 2024 and 2027, Vietnam is expected to add around 15,200ha of industrial land supply, along with more than six million sq.m of total warehouse and factory space. Alongside this supply expansion, demand is also growing positively, driven by the China+1 relocation trend and the implementation of trade commitments,” she said.

Under master plans for key markets for 2021-2030, provinces such as Binh Duong are expected to host 48-50 industrial areas, covering 25,000ha. Similarly, in Long An, the plan includes 51 IPs, covering almost 12,500ha.

In the north, Hai Duong province is approved for 32 IPs, covering approximately 5,600ha.

“I know quite a few people who have been developing small and medium-sized IPs in Hai Duong, Hung Yen, and Bac Giang. The moment they complete construction, partners from Hong Kong and China approach them with attractive rental offers,” said Tran Quang Trung, business development director at OneHousing.

“I see this as an excellent sign, when industrial real estate flourishes, it generates employment for local people. That, in turn, means higher incomes, enabling people to buy homes, invest, and improve their quality of life, ultimately fostering sustainable national development,” Trung added.

According to OneHousing’s representative, with the government’s target of raising per capita income by the end of 2025 and its roadmap towards 2030, industrial real estate is set to remain a highly lucrative segment, alongside commercial and residential real estate.

Meanwhile, Thomas Rooney, associate director of Industrial Services at Savills Hanoi, observed that Vietnam’s industrial real estate segment has been experiencing remarkable growth, with absorption rates for both industrial land and ready-built warehouses and factories rising significantly.

“Industrial land absorption rates in the north are now competing closely with those in the south, with a large proportion of available land already occupied. Notably, the ready-built warehouse and factory segment has seen strong uptake, with facilities being leased by manufacturers from Taiwan, China, Europe, and the United States,” he said.

Participants at the 2025 International Conference on AI and Semiconductors in Hanoi pored over the current global trends while outlining how Vietnam can use its potential to turn shortcomings into innovation drivers.

Suresh Venkatarayalu, senior vice president and chief technology officer at Honeywell, said that 6-7 years ago, Honeywell used to engage with semiconductor suppliers through a traditional procurement process. This was how the company made decisions and chose partners. However, the 2020 pandemic changed everything.

“We realised the need for a more efficient approach to managing supply and demand. Over the past two years, we saw the need to build strategic relationships with semiconductor companies,” he said.

Data and networks are the two core elements in the development of AI, Venkatarayalu said. “Data collection is not easy. Without good data, advanced AI solutions cannot operate effectively. Without large-scale data, no models are built for training.”

Bui Hai Hung, CEO of VinAI, provided a perspective on leveraging limited resources to drive innovation. He said that for a long time, the development of AI has relied on the use of increasingly large data and increasingly powerful computing power. However, this also entails a large demand for resources and higher costs.

Hung especially emphasised that the case of DeepSeek in China is a valuable lesson. Sometimes, the scarcity of resources becomes the driving force for us to find smarter ways to do things, thereby inspiring creativity.

“The DeepSeek team faced restrictions on GPU exports, forcing them to find ways to achieve more results with fewer resources. Currently, the number of GPUs of DeepSeek is estimated at much smaller than OpenAI – which has spent billions of dollars on AI,” he said.

DeepSeek has succeeded in significantly reducing the cost of training AI models, which comes from technical improvements such as optimising architecture, developing new algorithms, applying reinforcement learning and improving the efficiency of GPU usage at the low level.

Hung noted that Vietnam is facing serious resource constraints. He was previously a member of the DeepMind team in Mountain View, California. “When I decided to return to Vietnam to establish an AI lab, many colleagues were very surprised. It was a risky decision, but I believe that Vietnam has enough conditions, from talent to opportunity, to create interesting things. However, right from the start, I see a big challenge: the lack of resources.”

However, Hung also realised that Vietnam could be the ideal place to turn resource limitations into a driving force for innovation. Instead of seeing this as an obstacle, it could be a catalyst for innovation.

“In Vietnam, shortage of resources is not a barrier but a driving force for innovation. We have young and intelligent human resources. With performance and innovation, Vietnam can absolutely become a bright spot in the global AI field,” Hung stated.

AI is shaping the future of the semiconductor industry. Da-Shan Shiu, CEO of MediaTek, said that the industry requires high precision and optimal product quality. Thereby, AI and data will optimise the manufacturing process, from parameter control to improving equipment performance.

“Semiconductor manufacturing needs precision, near-perfect process control to maximise efficiency and yield. AI-based process control is an automated process, enabling real-time decision-making to ensure stability, reduce waste, and improve product reliability,” Shiu added.

Shiu also mentioned how AI supports real-time process control, especially in semiconductor chip manufacturing. AI can analyse data from measurement systems, identify small deviations in the production process and propose immediate adjustments. This minimises material loss and improves the reliability of the output product.

“To fully exploit AI in semiconductor manufacturing, businesses need to invest in powerful data systems and specialised models suitable for the complexity of production,” Shiu noted.

Christopher Nguyen, CEO and co-founder of Aitomatic, said that Vietnam is a rising force in the AI and semiconductor industries, driven by a young, talented population and increasing foreign and local investments

On the semiconductor side, the growing investments in both integrated chip design and packaging systems signal the start of a promising tech ecosystem.

“However, Vietnam should find its niche rather than competing in highly saturated markets like advanced semiconductor fabrication dominated by giants like TSMC,” he said. “Instead, we should focus on emerging, high-potential areas like edge AI, where no clear global leader has yet emerged,” Nguyen recommended.

“I believe Vietnam can build a comparative advantage by channelling resources and talent into these less crowded, fast-growing markets, creating the chance to become a global leader. I’m very excited about the potential of the edge becoming the centre and for edge AI in terms of chip design.”

Pham Minh Chinh, Prime Minister Vietnam’s economy is aiming for development based on science and technology, innovation, digital transformation, and the green, digital, circular, creative, and sharing economies. To develop AI and semiconductors in particular, Vietnam should aim to cut at least 30 per cent of administrative procedures, reducing compliance costs for individuals and businesses, and strengthening decentralisation. We are shifting from management thinking to development thinking. Moreover, infrastructure for AI and semiconductor development should be carried out strongly, including transport infrastructure to reduce input and logistics costs, as well as infrastructure in IT, the digital transition, and energy. Human resources will meet the requirements of developing in microchips and AI. This is the biggest challenge, but Vietnam is focusing on implementing it, with solutions to innovate the education and training system towards better quality, focusing on encouraging basic research, training in English as a second language, and streamlining training with the spirit of lifelong learning. Another important solution is to develop a startup ecosystem for AI, semiconductors, and innovation that is suitable for the country’s talent and strengths. It is necessary to encourage the startup movement nationwide, contributing to the development of the country. Vietnam must build more research and development centres, as well as international and regional financial centres for Ho Chi Minh City and Danang. The government hopes that foreign partners and investors will contribute to providing advice on approaches, vision, and goals to ensure suitability with the situation in Vietnam. We must see contributions to perfecting institutions, cutting cumbersome procedures, and making decisions as soon as possible to reduce compliance costs for individuals and businesses as much as possible. Additionally, the government has requested partners to provide financial support and preferential loans to ensure efficiency, build more investment funds, develop financial centres, upgrade the stock market, encourage direct and indirect investment, and boost public-private cooperation to mobilise resources. Investors and partners should also promote tech transfer to Vietnam through R&D centres, and create conditions for Vietnamese enterprises to participate in global supply and production chains. Truong Gia Binh, chairman, FPT Group Vietnam has one million IT engineers, half of whom are software engineers who can be moved to AI, and is proceeding with the target of one million AI experts. If this can be carried out, Vietnam will be at the top of the list in terms of developed countries in this area. Many years ago, Vietnam was almost unknown on the world IT map. Today, it has become a hub for high-quality human resources. Therefore, investors can consider Vietnam as a large talent centre, where people with aspirations and a strong spirit of progress are gathered. With the current goals, FPT commits to transforming and training AI capacity for 500,000 people. Vietnam aims to train 50,000 semiconductor engineers by 2030 and will move towards hundreds of thousands of workers in the future. In the context of global investment in training semiconductor workers, FPT commits to training 5,000 people by the end of this decade, including 1,600 students studying semiconductors. In the past, more than a dozen leading universities have quickly opened training programmes on AI and semiconductors. FPT has prepared a force for a new generation of experts, integrating into the global technology flow. This is a gold mine waiting for international businesses to exploit. Moreover, the Party and state leaders have issued affirmations of Vietnam’s determination to choose innovation and sci-tech, including AI and semiconductors, as the roadmap for future development. We are mobilising the participation of the whole of society in digital transformation activities, and technology adoption in daily life.