At the time Indonesian and international media announced that NVIDIA and Indosat would invest $200 million to build an AI center in Indonesia, there was a widespread lament on Vietnamese social media: “Vietnam has lost out to Indonesia”, “Jensen gives us just the scraps”, “Jensen said Vietnam is his second home, but decided to invest in Indonesia”, “Vietnam needs to take a look at itself because it is apparently not attractive enough”.
“Those of us in the know knew for certain that was not the case: it was definite that NVIDIA was cooperating with Vietnam more than with Indonesia. However, in business some things cannot be announced prematurely; it must be at the right time and we had no choice but to keep silent” – said Mr. Bao.
Today, the official information that NVIDIA and FPT will invest $200 million to build an AI center in Vietnam has been announced.
The news is similar to the news a few months ago that NVIDIA and Indosat would invest $200 million to build an AI center in Indonesia. Why did Jensen visit Vietnam before Indonesia and then announce the investment in an AI center in Indonesia months before Vietnam?
A member of the FPT Board of Directors revealed that few know that Vietnam remains on a select list of countries restricted by the US from exporting high technology, while Indonesia is not, and NVIDIA’s technology is included in that category. Therefore, when NVIDIA decided to partner with both Vietnam and Indonesia during Jensen’s visit to both countries, Indonesia was given immediate permission to make an official announcement, while Vietnam (FPT) had to wait for NVIDIA to receive the US government’s permit.
“Every procedure and permit is now complete. It is that simple. In business, there are many deals in which the outcome is 99.99% certain, but the parties involved are not yet permitted to make an official announcement, and must wait for the final 0.01%. Sometimes that final 0.01% can take 3-4 months. Consequently, we accepted staying silent while everyone lamented and disparaged us, saying “Vietnam has lost out to Indonesia” (of course, we kept smiling inwardly)” – wrote Mr. Do Cao Bao.
