Vietnam’s economy has grown strongly in recent years, expanding by around seven to eight per cent, and with that growth has come rising pressure on how its cities move. Congestion has lengthened daily journeys and Hanoi has repeatedly ranked among the world’s most polluted cities. The World Bank has estimated that air pollution costs Vietnam US$13 billion a year, on top of the time and productivity lost on the road. Meeting growing demand for convenient, reliable, and affordable transport within these constraints is the challenge that frames every pathway discussed at the roundtable.
Several pathways to improve mobility exist. The pace of implementation, the need to get implementation right at scale, and the risks of prioritising one over another dominated the discussion. Discussants observed that scaling new mobility interventions faster than what the supporting infrastructure, energy systems, and workforce can absorb tends to lock in costs that are difficult to unwind later. Furthermore, AI applied to mobility is a substantial opportunity in its own right, with the market projected to approach USD 530 billion by 2035, though its benefits will only be evenly shared if the government gets the implementation right.
Three themes anchored the conversation. First, there are many pathways to a stronger mobility future, and no single intervention can meet the demands alone. Second, pace and sequencing matter as much as ambition does, since each pathway entails different timelines, prerequisites, and trade-offs. Third, large-scale interventions should be inclusive and people-centred, reaching as many Vietnamese people as possible and meeting them where they are, socially and economically. Running through all three, AI was discussed as a core enabler, most valuable when designed to put people first and supported by robust and healthy partnerships with the private sector.
The roundtable opened with welcoming remarks from the convening partners and two scene-setting presentations, one examining the current state of AI and mobility in Vietnam and the other offering a regional perspective from across Southeast Asia. Together, these set a shared baseline for a high-level dialogue that drew the themes out through perspectives from government, industry, academia, and civil society.
Participants
In line with the Chatham House Rule, the points raised during the dialogue are reported in this note without attribution to individual speakers. Participants are listed below for reference. The roundtable was conducted in English and Vietnamese with simultaneous interpretation.
Welcoming Remarks
- Dr. Hoang Van Cuong, Vice President, Vietnam Economic Association
- Nguyen Hoa Cuong, Vice President, Institute for Policy and Strategy Studies (IPSS)
- Citra H Nasruddin, Programme Director, Tech for Good Institute (TFGI)
Scene-Setting
- Nguyen Anh Duong, Director, Division for General Economic Issues and Integration Studies, IPSS, on AI and the state of mobility in Vietnam
- Erlanggasakti Putra, Programme Analyst, TFGI, on AI and the state of mobility in Southeast Asia
Moderators
- Nguyen Hoa Cuong (IPSS), Theme 1: The Opportunity
- Mohamed Fairoz Bin Ahmad (TFGI), Theme 2: The Challenges
- Citra H Nasruddin (TFGI), Theme 3: The Way Forward
Discussants
- Luong Duc Thang, Deputy Head, Traffic Infrastructure Management Department, Hanoi Department of Construction
- Nguyen Duy Hong, Operations Director, YCH Vietnam
- Nguyen Duc Vinh, former Director, Institute of Sociology, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS)
- Tran Tien Dung, Department of Urban Development, Ministry of Construction
- Nguyen Thi Nhat Ha, Vietnam Market Director, Voltality Pte Ltd.
- Truong Manh Tuan, Deputy Head, Division of Environmental Quality Management, Environment Agency, Ministry of Agriculture and Environment
- Nguyen Anh Duong, Director, Division for General Economic Issues and Integration Studies, IPSS
- Nguyen Thi Le Quyen, Head of Enterprise Support, Vietnam National Innovation Center (NIC)
- Ted Kim, Chief Executive Officer, GCOO Vietnam
- Associate Prof. Dr. Dinh Tan Hung, Director, Institute for Spatial and Underwater Technology, Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST)
Key Takeaways
- Many pathways: no single intervention will carry the future of mobility
No single pathway will carry the future of mobility in Vietnam. Electric Vehicle (EV) adoption, expanded public transit, AI-optimised traffic management, shared mobility platforms, and more efficient freight each have a part to play. The more useful question is how they reinforce one another rather than which to prioritise. Discussants made the case for keeping these pathways in balance rather than relying on a single intervention.
Across these interventions, AI stood out as the connective link between them. The value if AI is tapped intelligently and embedded for smart decision making for these interventions can be felt in human terms: Commuters spending more time with their families rather than sitting in traffic congestion, households paying less for everyday goods as logistics becomes more efficient, and small businesses that deliver goods and services to customers see productivity gains.
- Pace and sequencing: weighing timelines and trade-offs
The timelines for large mobility transitions run long, which makes pace and sequencing as important as ambition. Across Southeast Asia, the shift to EVs looks different in each economy, but one pattern is common. Governments, such as those in Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia, have taken a measured, careful approach to scaling up change. Large-scale changes are grounded in extensive study, consultation with a wide range of stakeholders, and readiness: Malaysia’s forecasting ahead by ensuring foundational charging infrastructure is in place, Singapore’s well-planned integration of charging stations in public housing estates, and Indonesia’s aim of supporting the affordability of EVs for Indonesians are some examples.
Vietnam’s own milestones are notably shorter, with a Low Emission Zone (LEZ) pilot scheduled to begin in 2026 and rapid movement towards EVs. Discussants cautioned about structural challenges given the pace. The current adoption curve rests heavily on a single closed network. This limits consumers’ choices, reduces market competitiveness, and increases the risk of failure. Discussants further cautioned against treating Vietnamese consumers as a homogeneous group. While early adopters are willing to take more risks, have greater tolerance for such gaps, and have greater spending power, mainstream consumers will focus on reliability, affordability, and convenience.
Discussants advocated for clear standards, genuine interoperability, and a stable legal framework to broaden the path of EV adoption beyond a single ecosystem and put it on more resilient footing.
- Inclusive and people-centred: meeting Vietnamese people where they are
The deeper test of any mobility transition is who benefits, and who might be left behind. The workforce dimension is equally important. Any new mobility intervention designed at scale, and EV transition in particular, requires sustained reskilling and upskilling at scale. A vast number of transport and automotive workers must be retrained to adapt to new vehicle technologies. Policies that move faster than workforce upskilling can create implementation challenges, leading to distrust in the reliability of the ecosystems, and stalling adoption.
Discussants also noted that implementing EV transition at scale without factoring in affordability will also affect the following segments:
- Micro, small and medium enterprises that depend on affordable transport to move goods and serve customers, and who have already invested in non-EV transport fleets.
- Delivery or ride-hailing drivers whose daily transport is also their livelihood.
- Low-income households for whom any increase in the cost of getting to work, school, or the market has immediate consequences.
Several discussants therefore stressed that any scaled intervention should be planned alongside a deliberate safety net, including retraining, targeted subsidies, and skills forecasting, so that the benefits reach as many Vietnamese people as possible.
- AI as a core enabler, realised through collaboration and trusted governance
AI runs through all of these pathways as a core enabler. Its value appears when it is tied to real operations, clear policy, and data that people trust. Public-private collaboration emerged as the practical way forward. The private sector tends to be strongest at building data and digital infrastructure. This is particularly true of companies with expertise in shared mobility, ride-hailing, and digital logistics platforms, which already aggregate large volumes of real-time movement data, employ AI in everyday operations, and connect millions of users and workers directly to the transport system. The state’s role is to set standards that serve the public interest and to enable interoperability across service providers.
Trust and governance underpin it all. Discussants called for a shared national approach to data while noting the energy and cybersecurity risks of over-centralisation. Building on this foundation, the discussion converged on a practical design principle: that Vietnam should give itself room to experiment safely through policy sandboxes, in which regulators and the private sector jointly track pilot outcomes in real time, calibrated against readiness indicators tied to specific milestones planned by the government and other transition measures. Treated as a central pillar of the way forward rather than a footnote, sandboxes give the country a structured way to test, learn, refine, and scale, while keeping people and the public interest at the centre of each iteration.
