Vietnam’s technology manufacturing industry is rapidly expanding with the help of government initiatives. One such project is the Saigon Hi-tech Park (SHTP). The park was established around 20 years ago as a way to attract foreign tech investment in Vietnam. The most significant part of our visit was seeing the innovation hub. The quantity of high tech equipment available to these startups surprised me. This program reminded me of a similar center I visited in Ireland. The group was called the Dublin Entrepreneurial Center. Rather than being a host for equipment, the group was used as a source of expert knowledge and advice. The startups received office space and scheduled time with leaders in their industry. A shift in the Vietnamese innovation hub towards expert advice would help the startups in the SHTP. These sort of business and technology hubs already exist in the United States and Europe. An expansion of the services offered by the SHTP innovation hub would be a strong step in the right direction. However, one system in place by the SHTP which impressed me was the collaboration with a local university. Students could share the space with entrepreneurs and use the equipment for projects. While sharing the room, the companies and the students could network and learn from one another. This process by the SHTP benefits both the students and the startups.

We also visited Coherent, an advanced manufacturing company. Their campus in Vietnam currently hosts 1500 employees but they plan to expand to 5000+ by 2028. This rapid expansion makes sense to me as many companies are trying to devest from China. New manufacturing hubs need to be build and Vietnam hosts many attributes to be a great choice. A young workforce, growing economy, cheap labor, and tax incentives all make Vietnam a clear contender for manufacturing. What interests me the most about Coherent is how they plan to find enough engineers and advanced laborers to direct the work at all their new plants. Some aspects of the work seem highly technical. I know that Coherent tries to train employees from within but it seems like pre-educated employees would save a lot of time and money.