NAFOSTED Opens Vietnam’s Global AI Expert Network and Calls for Real-World AI Problems by October 30
Vietnam’s National Foundation for Science and Technology Development (NAFOSTED) has invited ministries, localities, businesses, researchers and AI specialists in Vietnam and abroad to join the Global Vietnamese AI Expert Network and to submit AI problems that need solving, according to a notice published on October 11 on the Ministry of Science and Technology’s portal. The fund serves as the network’s standing body under an implementation plan the ministry issued on September 16.
The network is meant to link domestic and international AI experts, especially Vietnamese specialists working overseas, with practical needs at home, and to drive cooperation in research, training, knowledge transfer and technology development. Members can include scientists who advise, review, teach or work on specific AI problems; AI companies and startups that test, build and commercialise solutions; research institutes and universities that share infrastructure and develop talent; and domestic and foreign partners that bring expertise and resources.
What it means in practice
The second half of the notice is a call for AI problems rooted in management, production and socio-economic needs. The fund lists state management, from public services to forecasting and decision support; production and business, such as process optimisation and productivity; essential sectors including health, education, agriculture, transport, environment and energy; research to master AI technology, models, data and platforms; and large cross-sector problems of strategic importance. Proposals should set out the real problem, goals and expected results, conditions, available resources and a coordinating contact, and the fund favours problems with verifiable results and room to scale. The network will match proposals with suitable experts, research groups and companies, and larger strategic problems may be linked to formal programmes. The notice also lists an annual global AI forum among planned activities.
The call adds to a broader funding push, from NATIF’s offer of up to VND 3 billion per AI innovation task and its grants for business AI projects to the draft national AI education framework. It also follows a thirteenfold jump in Vietnamese AI startup funding.
What to watch: submissions close at 5 pm on Friday, October 30, 2026. Watch how many overseas experts register, which problems are selected and whether the first matched projects receive state funding.