The Prime Minister's special fresh signature and the 'order to lead the eagle' to spread its wings to Vietnam

Generations of foreign correspondents who entered the profession more than 10 years ago like us are often very familiar with and admire the name Hoang Anh Tuan in each sharp, multi-dimensional international commentary. Reading each commentary with the pen name Hoang Anh Tuan is an eye-opener, a lesson to learn... 10 years later (it can be said that it has been more than a year), we "whispered" to each other about a Hoang Anh Tuan - the Vietnamese Consul General in San Francisco who leads the American "eagles" to Vietnam. It seems that every month or whenever possible, he goes to the US, studies the market, explores cooperation opportunities to "lead the way" for businesses of the two countries to find each other... I think he is a "good soldier" of foreign affairs on all fronts?

Speaking about myself, I am a relatively well-educated person. After graduating from the University of Foreign Affairs, I continued my studies for a Master's and PhD in the US. In terms of research, I have spent time doing research in 5 different locations at different times, so I also have experience doing research abroad.

In terms of work, I also have diverse experiences. In addition to domestic research work when I worked at the Diplomatic Academy, I also have a lot of practical experience abroad, for example, working at the Vietnamese Embassy in Washington DC from 2007-2010, in charge of monitoring Vietnam's relationship with the US Congress.

This job requires dynamism, agility, decisiveness and determination because the dynamism and determination in the US Congress are very high, everything must be done quickly, otherwise it will be impossible to keep up. In addition, at that time, the Embassy only had me in charge of monitoring the Congress while the US Congress is very large, the Congressman's office alone has 435 offices, not to mention 100 Senators' offices. Of course, I cannot monitor everything and can only focus on the key offices, but I also try not to miss any work and promote the work quickly. Each federal congressman's office in the US Congress can be seen as a miniature power center. Each Congressman and Senator, depending on their position in Congress, has from 20 to 80 different service staff.

It can be said that this is the stage that helped me develop and practice "real-life" skills.

In addition, I was also in charge of the Institute for Strategic Studies (Diplomatic Academy) from 2010-2015. As the Director of the Institute, I also have a strategic perspective and thinking to serve my work, in terms of practice and research, vision; assessment and strategy.

With such a variety of positions and roles, how can an Ambassador do well in each job he undertakes?

For example, when I was in charge of monitoring the US Congress at the Embassy, I focused on and completed this work well, contributing to creating many marks in the parliamentary relations between Vietnam and the US. On the basis of doing well the assigned work, I continued to participate in other tasks with the desire to learn and discover myself, in order to serve the work better in the future. I participated in research and exchange work with executive agencies, such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defense; promoted research relations between the Embassy, Vietnamese research institutes and US research institutes during that period. All of these helped me to enhance my research capacity and increase my understanding, not only in the narrow field that I was in charge of but also in broader fields. During that period, I often participated in writing newspaper commentary under many different pen names. Or when doing research work, I always tried to do a good job of researching and evaluating issues such as movements in relations between major countries, foreign policies of major countries, ASEAN or Vietnam's foreign policy. My efforts also contributed to creating breakthroughs in strategic research at the Diplomatic Academy. At that time, I often appeared in the media as a strategic analyst and researcher.

Currently, I hold a different position, that is Consul General of Vietnam in San Francisco, with the main job of promoting community work.

The West Coast region of the United States that I am in charge of has more than 1.2 million Vietnamese expatriates, so community work here is very important. In addition, I also have to pay attention to many other important areas, especially technology.

San Francisco is located next to Silicon Valley - the technology capital of the US and the world. I want to become a technology ambassador. This requires me to understand technology issues and grasp the major technology trends taking place in California and the US. From there, I can make forecasts for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the whole country. Correctly assessing trends, especially technology trends, will help create a breakthrough development for Vietnam in the coming time.

That is the mission that I am carrying out and I try to show my best performance in this position. Of course, I still try to do well in other areas to ensure that I am carrying out my responsibilities in the most comprehensive way.

Is there any “secret” or is it simply doing your best in every task assigned to you, Ambassador?

I believe that, no matter what position I hold, I can see the points to create breakthroughs. For example, when I was the Vietnamese Ambassador to Indonesia, the breakthrough here was to promote the Vietnam - Indonesia relationship to a new level. Previously, arranging and organizing the visit of the General Secretary of Vietnam to Indonesia encountered many difficulties. However, I was the first Ambassador to realize the visit of the General Secretary to Indonesia as the head of the Vietnamese political system and was welcomed by the host country at the highest level. This had never happened in the 62-year history of Vietnam - Indonesia relations up to that time and thus created a new breakthrough in the relationship between the two countries.

Or when working at the Institute for Strategic Studies, I realized that there are many points to focus on. That is to grasp the major trends in the world, understand the strategic issues of countries. Strategy here is not only related to politics but also includes security, economics, science and technology, major policies; the strategies of major countries such as the US, Japan, Russia, China, India in their relations with each other, in their foreign policies, and how they affect Vietnam so that we can come up with appropriate policies. I have discovered many new points and contributed to the research on Vietnam's general strategy, as well as in shaping foreign policy, how we deal with regional issues and in relations with major countries.

Working in a multilateral environment - the ASEAN Secretariat, I also have new discoveries to improve my research capacity, problem detection, organization and problem solving to enhance the position and role of the ASEAN Secretariat in serving member countries.

Therefore, what I want to emphasize is that wherever I work, I always explore and discover new things. In my current position, I see that science and technology are the key factors for every country, especially for Vietnam. If Vietnam wants to increase its GDP from 400 billion USD to 1,000 billion USD, there is no faster breakthrough than a breakthrough in the field of science and technology. By studying science and technology trends, we can greatly shorten Vietnam's development gap.

I have witnessed the rapid development in Silicon Valley in the US, there are many “unicorn” companies - “billion dollar” companies that develop very quickly, in a short period of 2-5 years with limited resources from a few dozen to a few hundred people. They have turned their companies into “billion dollar” companies and played an important role in the technology field.

For every country, if it finds the right direction, it can promote not only science and technology but also its position on the world technology map, raising its GDP from low to high, for example, Vietnam from 400 billion USD to 1,000 billion USD in the near future.

With those precious journeys, I feel that the profession has given the Ambassador a lot of luck and he is also trying his best to "repay" that luck with passion, love for the Fatherland, and mission in each different position!

Yes, probably so!

Here, if put in a general framework, I always look at issues in the direction of: favorable time, favorable location and harmony of people. In the general context, my luck is that the country is in the process of transformation and take-off. Vietnamese enterprises today are also strong enterprises and have the mindset of wanting to go beyond the country's scope, expanding influence and relationships with regional and global partners. In particular, we see the vision and desire of the leaders in developing Vietnam, helping Vietnam catch up with other countries to take off in the near future. I see great aspirations from leaders, enterprises and people. They all want positive changes.

Another advantage is that every place I work shows favorable conditions. For example, when I worked at the Vietnamese Embassy in the US, at that time, the Vietnam-US relationship had many gaps, with opportunities to promote and develop. The US wanted to promote relations with Vietnam and Vietnam also had interests and wanted to strengthen relations with the US. Therefore, my job was to promote those wishes to come true. I realized that the area of congressional relations still had many "empty spaces", while the US Congress had a great role and influence in making decisions on foreign affairs, especially with Vietnam. Therefore, my job was to inherit the positive results from previous officials, continue to strengthen the area of congressional relations to contribute to promoting Vietnam-US relations during that period, creating momentum for the following stages.

In the archipelago country, I see that the relationship between Vietnam and Indonesia is very good in many aspects, but there has not been a visit by the General Secretary to Indonesia. I am fortunate that the Vietnam-Indonesia Strategic Partnership was signed in 2013, so when I took office in 2015, the foundation of the relationship had been formed and my task was to find the weak points that prevented the bilateral relationship from creating momentum. When the bottleneck is found and resolved, everything will be promoted.

In my current position as Consul General of Vietnam in San Francisco, when I came to take up my assignment, I was fortunate that the technology sector is becoming a focus that all countries, companies, and large enterprises want to develop and create breakthroughs through technology. I am fortunate to go to a place that is considered the cradle, the technology center of the world today, where there are many large American technologies. Currently, there are 5 largest technology companies in the US and the world, worth from 1.6-3 trillion USD, all headquartered in Silicon Valley.

Another point is that when I arrived here, the Vietnam-US relationship had been strengthened with the two sides upgrading their relationship from Comprehensive Partnership to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. This created a new turning point with many new concerns. Therefore, I always wondered how to make the best use of those “favorable conditions” to promote the relationship to achieve the expected results.

I always think that “God has given” such favorable conditions, if I do not promote and slow down this process, I am at fault. That motivates me to learn a lot, especially in the field of technology, to understand the highly specialized language of technology. When talking to American and Vietnamese partners, I can use their specialized language, so that they can see that I have a certain expertise in the field that Vietnam needs to take advantage of. When they come to invest in Vietnam, there will be partners who can talk to each other on an equal footing, gradually becoming trustworthy partners.

Now, if you were in the “role” of a commentator, what do you think about the significance of the “Vietnamese bamboo diplomacy” school? For you personally, what is the significance of that ideology when working in the US, a partner with many special features in its relations with Vietnam?

In fact, the Vietnamese diplomatic school was formed long ago, associated with the history of building and defending the country of our people. We can see that Vietnamese diplomats are imbued with the ideology of patriotism, peace, humanity and protecting national and ethnic interests at all costs, so they are all extremely flexible and adaptable people on the basis of sticking to their principles.

I think that all Vietnamese diplomats and all the historical pages and diplomatic experiences of our ancestors from ancient times to the present all represent the true spirit of Vietnamese diplomacy. We - Vietnamese diplomats, when working in the "field", also practice based on those foundations. Currently, all the characteristics and character of Vietnamese diplomacy have been generalized and emphasized by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong recently through the Vietnamese bamboo diplomacy school. For thousands of years, bamboo has been associated with people, with villages, with the country of Vietnam. The image of bamboo is a very close and familiar image to everyone as well as Vietnamese diplomats. The association of the characteristics of Vietnamese diplomacy with Vietnamese bamboo is very clear and also makes it easy for everyone to remember.

For example, the strength of the country is the trunk of the bamboo tree, our principles are the roots of the bamboo tree. As General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong said, the position and strength of our country has never been as strong as it is today, which also creates conditions for us to spread the appeal of Vietnamese diplomacy. Vietnamese diplomats therefore have more tools to promote their work to best ensure the interests of the nation and people. When diplomats have done their job well, it means that "the branches have become flexible" according to the trend, according to the practical situation. However, the root remains firm and unchanged, the firm root will make the bamboo tree stronger and bigger day by day. When the root is firm, external influences will hardly affect the position. It only makes our position more and more firm, creating a stronger and stronger position and strength day by day.

With such connotations, what about "bamboo diplomacy" in the US, Ambassador?

The country must be strong and must protect national interests. For me personally, the “mission” at this time is to promote the technology story. There are many different types of technology, but the important thing is to find the core technology. All types of technology serve the development needs, but in fact we need two types: semiconductor technology and artificial intelligence technology. These are the two biggest technological breakthroughs that can help Vietnam develop in the coming period.

Besides, there are also many other important technologies such as automation technology, biotechnology, medical technology or aerospace technology...

The current issue that we are addressing is focusing on attracting resources, investment, finance, technology and interest in Vietnam. Not just interest expressed in words but also commitment such as commitment to investment, commitment to cooperation.

At the opening of the 32nd Diplomatic Conference, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong spoke about the recent important visits of US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, emphasizing that it was not just the usual diplomatic rituals, the intimacy of both the US President and the Chinese President showed that Vietnam had touched their hearts. Is “touching the heart” in sincerity, love of peace, and desire to rise?

I think the most important thing is that Vietnam has shown its sincerity. For example, at the meeting between Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and the leaders of Nvidia (the world's largest chip manufacturer) during his visit to the US in September 2023, the Prime Minister shared very honestly that Vietnam is in the process of development and Vietnam is eager to have its name on the world technology map.

This desire is real. Vietnam not only has the desire but also the potential and the effort. Vietnamese people are intelligent, hard-working, very good at natural sciences and Vietnamese people learn technology very quickly because in just over 20 years, from a country that just started exporting software, Vietnam is now ranked 2nd in the world in software export, just behind India.

Vietnam now has more than one million technology engineers, second only to India. That is proof that we not only have the desire but also the ability.

So we need an outside push, which is the technology and experience and help of Nvidia.

Through the Prime Minister's discussion, Nvidia's leaders at that time saw Vietnam's desire and strength, and at the same time they saw that investing in Vietnam would not only benefit Vietnam but also benefit Nvidia.

It was the fairness and sincerity of Vietnam, specifically of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, that touched their hearts. Immediately, they made decisions that met our requirements.

The same is true for China. Our desire, our sincerity, is to have peace, independence and a self-reliant economy. We want to develop to build equal and friendly relations with China on the basis of international law. China understands that and China sees that this is Vietnam's true desire and aspiration. Therefore, they also take actions to meet Vietnam's requirements.

I think Vietnam's fairness and sincerity have created a great message. Vietnam is a loyal friend, thirsty for peace and living with principles, dreams, ambitions and sincerity. Vietnam does not hurt anyone and will not let anyone hurt it.

Vietnam and the US have raised their relationship to the highest level - Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the road ahead is so "broad", in your opinion, which big doors will open the soonest?

I think in theory and politically the door is open now, but the most important thing is to realize it. Realization is taking action and promoting economic relations, turning political statements into benefits for the people. People will ask what benefits they will get from the two countries upgrading relations, so realizing the opportunities into specific investment commitments from the US to Vietnam is what we need to do. Especially investing in the technology sector to help Vietnam take off and make a breakthrough in the field of training and education, sending Vietnamese students to study at the best schools in the US, creating cooperation programs between Vietnamese universities and schools in the US...

In addition, it is necessary to further expand the US market for Vietnamese export goods. Realizing the cooperation goals is the aspiration of the people and leaders of the two countries in developing the relationship more substantially.

I think that the political knot has basically been untied, the remaining task is for diplomats and business leaders to try to promote and create the most favorable conditions to serve the economic development of Vietnam, the economic development of the US, promote the relationship between the two countries so that the people of the two countries can become more and more prosperous. When they see a more prosperous life, living in a more peaceful environment, they will support the increasingly close relationship between the two sides. Therefore, it is very important to turn the joint statement between the two countries into real stories.

The “mission” of diplomats, so is there anything greater? What are your personal big dreams for the future? After the Nvidia Chairman, will there be any more “eagles” traveling halfway around the world to Vietnam?

It can be seen that major US technology companies have set foot in Vietnam. Even Nvidia has personnel in Vietnam. Before the Nvidia Chairman visited Vietnam recently. Not only Nvidia, major US companies have invested and cooperated with Vietnamese partners such as Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, Google, Meta...

The important thing now is to direct them to invest in the areas we need, especially the areas we need most right now are semiconductors and artificial intelligence. Next, not only focusing on the manufacturing sector, we must focus on how to move the design center from abroad like the US to design in Vietnam and attract Vietnamese talents in this field.

Another important area that needs to be promoted is research and development (R&D), demonstrating that investors are committed to long-term investment in Vietnam.

In addition, training high-quality human resources in Vietnam is also an area that needs attention. When Vietnam's human resources develop, have experience and skills, they can work not only for investors in Vietnam but also at the regional and global level. A good human resource team can help build an independent and developed Vietnamese technology industry, with a foothold in the region and the world. At the same time, factors such as production and technology transfer are equally important. I always wonder how to create such a synchronization; the investment direction and cooperation of large foreign companies with companies in Vietnam must be more substantial and effective; and "good investment" must be made to create a breakthrough development, changing Vietnam's technology industry. When Vietnam and large technology corporations have close cooperation, this is a message to Silicon Valley and other technology companies in the US and around the world: The leading technology companies have come to Vietnam, there is no reason why they should not cooperate with Vietnam. When Vietnam becomes more attractive and appealing to technology companies, it will be easier to create an ecosystem to help Vietnam develop the semiconductor and artificial intelligence industry.

Digging into the Nvidia story. Nvidia Chairman Jensen Huang's visit to Vietnam in mid-December 2023 has attracted great public attention. Will this visit create a real impetus for Vietnam's aspiration to position itself on the technology map?

The most important thing to welcome an eagle is to have the mindset, position and approach of an eagle. Remember that eagles only talk to eagles or partners with the mindset and attitude of an eagle. We “speak” in the language of the eagle: We are truly open-minded and want to welcome the “eagle”.

Nvidia is truly a technological “eagle”, which is reflected in a number of points:

First , Nvidia's market capitalization on the US stock market is currently worth over 1,500 billion USD (nearly 4 times Vietnam's GDP) and continues to grow strongly thanks to positioning itself as a leading company in artificial intelligence (AI), not just semiconductor chips.

Second , among chip manufacturing companies, specifically GPU graphics chips, Nvidia is currently leading the world, using the most advanced chips such as A100, H100.

Thirdly , on the market, NVIDIA accounts for 80% of the GPU market worldwide to build infrastructure.

Picking up NVIDIA into Vietnam will create many advantages for Vietnam. First of all, NVIDIA itself entered Vietnam and the highest leadership of NVIDIA - President Jensen Huang sets in Vietnam has made countries or large technology companies concerned about the production of chips inside and outside the region to see that when Nvidia has been interested in Vietnam, they will not be concerned about the country.

In addition, Mr. Jensen Huang's announcement will invest in Vietnam, choosing Vietnam as "NVIDIA's second home" has sent a message that Vietnam is the country that plays an important role in the region and when NVIDIA cooperates with Vietnam to show that Vietnam must have intrinsic power to create appeal to NVIDIA. Infrastructure creates artificial intelligence and strengthened cooperation with important partners in Vietnam.

Not only that, the technology led by NVIDIA technology will help create an ecosystem of technology in Vietnam. This is very important because companies will not go alone, they go together to create important components. Vietnam.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh visited Nvidia on a visit to the US in September 2023, only 3 months later, Mr. Jensen Huang visited Vietnam.

The visit of the Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to the US (September 2023) took place at the time when the President of Nvidia was planning to visit East Asia but there was no decision to visit Vietnam. Seeing the opportunity to grasp change the fate of that partner, even the fate of that country.

Each country now wants to develop, in addition to the investment or commercial, the most important is the technology push, because the technology can create a breakthrough. From there, NVIDIA's influence and position increased quickly, the company's revenue and value also increased exponentially.

For the country, too.

When Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met Mr. Jensen Huang invited him to visit Vietnam and receive agreement. I think that it must turn this story into reality. Bringing that letter to Nvidia's headquarters directly to President Jensen Huang made him extremely touched.

We also try to arrange with them to make the best visit and surprise that the visit to Vietnam accounts for 3 days in the 8 -day journey to East Asia (Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam) of Mr. Jensen Huang. Security approached like welcoming foreign politicians when visiting Vietnam so that NVIDIA chairman found himself to be welcomed. We want NVIDIA President to understand that not only emotional and sincere attitude but Vietnam also has real strength, may be a reliable and important partner that when NVIDIA cooperates with Vietnam, they will also benefit.

In exchange with Mr. Jensen Huang, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh also mentioned that Vietnam has just started exporting software about 20 years ago, so far Vietnam has been the second largest country in the world for software exports. The company is as big as Google, Facebook and even for NVIDIA.

In addition, through exchange, the Prime Minister also told the leader of NVIDIA that Vietnam has leading companies in Southeast Asia, such as FPT, Viettel, VNG and other technology companies in the top of the region and in the world. Male lives and there are many engineers, this is also a strength that not all countries have.

Thus, through a meeting with the Prime Minister and in contact with partners in Vietnam, NVIDIA saw Vietnam's great potential in being ready to cooperate with NVIDIA to develop technology, a reliable partner of NVIDIA in the field of technology, to have a desire to rise higher, promote Vietnam's economic development, bring Vietnam on the world's technology map.

The "sincerity" of Vietnam has brought Mr. Jensen Huang to Vietnam and what else is big enough for the "technology giant" to claim to choose Vietnam as the "second home"?

President Nvidia did not promise anything before going to Vietnam as well as how to build a partnership.

President Nvidia met Prime Minister Pham Minh Cuong as the second meeting, he felt at the Prime Minister a sincere, desire of the Vietnamese leaders and people in wanting to bring Vietnam to develop, want to take Vietnam to take off. The size of the size became more and more open and open, like relatives with each other for a long time.

In addition, Mr. Jensen Huang ignored the receptionist rituals, he did not come to eat and drink at 5 -star and luxurious restaurants but accompanying Vietnamese technology engineers, those who work for Nvidia or those who work in the field of technology, from which he found that Vietnamese young people are very young and talented. younger than NVIDIA, the average age of our staff is 39 ”, Mr. Jensen Huang responded. Mr. Jensen Huang said that in the development of new technology, that is, the construction or development of AI does not depend on the age but the age of technology people is increasingly young.

In particular, Mr. Jensen Huang personally has a sympathy for young people in Vietnam and Vietnam just like the situation of Taiwan (China) a few decades ago. There is also the same desire to have the same luck as him. Therefore, Mr. Jensen Huang wants to add more motivation for young Vietnamese people in the spirit of "I can do it, you can do it".