Vietnam is one of the fastest growing markets in Southeast Asia. Projected to have 99 million inhabitants by the end of 2022, Vietnam is the world’s 15th most populated country. Its people are well educated, and the government supports the workforce through training and continuing education.
For both the sake of the planet and their country, Vietnam has are strongly committed to developing a circular, green economy through sustainable development. At last year’s COP26, they pledged to be net zero by 2050. The country is increasing their reliance on renewable energy sources, including a commitment to not build new coal plants. They have also joined global declarations on reversing forest loss, reducing methane emissions and becoming more sustainable in agriculture.
One of the key lessons from the pandemic was that need to diversify manufacturing locations, and Vietnam has been a beneficiary: manufacturing investments in the country are rising due to its strategic location, advantages in shipping, its competitive labor market, trade agreements and production costs in a range of industries from apparel to high tech. Samsung, Intel and Nike are among the companies who have made major investments in Vietnam. More suppliers based in Taiwan are building industrial clusters in Vietnam; for example, Foxconn, a key assembly partner for Apple, has made massive investments in the country, employing about 60,000 people with plans to significantly expand in the coming years.
For all of these reasons, we are thrilled to open an office in Hanoi’s Ba Dinh District, the nation’s political center which also houses government offices and embassies. This is the country’s main industrial hub, making it ideal for access to our customers and attracting top talent. While the office is new, our presence in Vietnam is not: for years, we have closely collaborated with some of its universities and developed a solid network of partners and resellers. And we’ve been supporting digital transformation at Vingroup, the country’s largest private conglomerate. We also plan to expand to Ho Chi Minh city over time to better serve our customers in the region.
Vietnam is increasingly embracing the idea of smart cities, including Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Danang, including deploying smart technologies for traffic management to health and education in the coming decade. With our extensive support for helping shape, develop and support future cities, we’re excited to have a new location close to where this work is being done.
As helping to build a more sustainable world is at the heart of Dassault Systèmes’ purpose, we are excited to increase our presence in Vietnam to help support the country’s efforts to be a green manufacturing hub and a more circular economy.
Alyssa is a Communications Director on the Dassault Systèmes Corporate Publishing team. She’s been part of DS for over 20 years, in roles ranging from public relations to marketing programs. Twitter: @DS_Alyssa