Ho Chi Minh City urged to rethink growth as AI changes economy
Speakers at a city forum called for stronger workforce skills and institutions, citing forecasts of major changes to employment by 2030.
Preparing workers, institutions and data infrastructure for artificial intelligence should shape Ho Chi Minh City’s approach to economic growth, city vice-chairman Nguyen Cong Vinh told a forum of experts and leaders.
Vinh cited projections in the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 that 170 million jobs would emerge by 2030 and 92 million would be displaced. The report also indicated that 39 per cent of the skills workers currently possess could become outdated, he said.
He argued that economies’ capacity to adjust would matter more for lasting success than their size alone. With uncertainty becoming a basic feature of the global economy, he said, partnerships between countries and industries were increasingly necessary because no economy could develop every resource it needed independently. Large cities also had a growing role in international cooperation.
Albert Antoine, co-founder and chief strategy officer at Avaiga, a digital transformation consultancy headquartered in Singapore, urged Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City to make education, workforce development, manufacturing and technology strategic investment priorities. He cautioned that AI could displace jobs and put welfare systems under greater pressure, adding that financial support could not take the place of skills development.
Antoine pointed to Singapore’s SkillsFuture programme as an example of lifelong learning. His proposals included closer ties with international technology companies, regulatory sandboxes and specialist public agencies drawing on Singapore’s GovTech and Infocomm Media Development Authority. He also called for conditions that would encourage private companies to invest in high-risk areas, including AI.
