Vietnam possesses a "gold mine" of IT human resources, ready to compete globally

Dan Tri Newspaper reporter had a conversation with Mr. Park Dong Jin - CEO of Naver Vietnam (part of Naver Group Korea) to listen to his assessment of the technology potential in Vietnam and the role of training technology human resources contributing to the development of the country.

How do you evaluate the quality of technology human resources in Vietnam? What are the most important factors to attract and retain talent in the field of science and technology?

- Through observation and evaluation over many years, in my opinion, the quality of information technology (IT) human resources in Vietnam has made significant progress in recent years.

Vietnam is currently one of the countries with a young, dynamic and highly qualified IT workforce in the Southeast Asian region. The strength of Vietnam is that you have a solid technical foundation, good thinking and increasingly high qualifications.

What is Naver's talent development model, sir?

- Naver Vietnam's talent development model not only focuses on professional development but also builds a healthy working culture, in addition to a competitive compensation policy, respecting and creating opportunities for employees to promote their creativity.

To ensure we recruit excellent programmers in Vietnam, we are adopting strategies such as partnering with universities and programming communities, coordinating with our headquarters in Korea to thoroughly review the necessary skill sets of employees, testing them in real-world environments, and more importantly, providing them with opportunities to participate in global projects.

Mr. Park Dong Jin, CEO of Naver Vietnam, talked with leaders of the School of Information and Communication Technology, Hanoi University of Science and Technology (Photo: Tuan Anh).

Instead of competing solely on salary, the key factor is to provide development opportunities. Even after recruitment, we operate a systematic onboarding process to support programmers to quickly adapt to the organization and form a development path for themselves.

What is the role of universities, research institutes and enterprises in training technology human resources? What cooperation programs does Naver Group have with educational institutions in Vietnam to support human resource development, sir?

- Since 2019, Naver Group has conducted more in-depth research on promoting the development of IT human resources in Vietnam, creating the premise for 2020, we officially signed the first memorandum of understanding with Hanoi University of Science and Technology.

This is an important milestone marking Naver's first ever technology cooperation model in Vietnam and has also become a highly appreciated cooperation model by both sides.

In particular, the HUST-NAVER AI Center becomes a common space where exchanges and research on scientific topics related to Artificial Intelligence technology, data science, large language models, etc. take place.

This is also the space to organize workshops and seminars between AI experts of NAVER Corporation and students of the University of Information and Communication Technology (SoICT) of Hanoi University of Science and Technology.

Lectures often focus on very practical topics and new technologies serving the life of modern society, so they are positively received by students and teachers.

In addition, we also conduct short-term courses, organize Summer Schools, and 24-hour Hackathon competitions to attract a large number of students nationwide to participate, in addition to awarding annual scholarships to students with excellent academic achievements.

Vietnam is currently one of the countries with a young, dynamic and well-qualified IT workforce in the Southeast Asia region.

CEO Park Dong Jin Naver Vietnam

In my opinion, enthusiastically participating in such supplementary activities and practical training will be the small alluvial particles that will deposit for your future rich career journey.

How has Naver Group contributed to the development of science and technology in Vietnam, sir?

- As I shared, the HUST-NAVER AI Center was established in 2021 as a common space where Naver's leading technology experts exchange research with dedicated researchers of SoICT with well-invested and spacious facilities, creating the most favorable environment for researchers.

Here, we have conducted research on more than 18 topics together, providing practical and highly applicable research, in addition to training and nurturing talent.

In addition, we also cooperate with a number of universities to sponsor innovation projects, organize programming internship training courses, technology experience sharing workshops, etc.

The leadership and students of the School of Information and Communications Technology with the leadership of Naver Vietnam at the DS-AI TechCon 2025 Conference (Photo: Tuan Anh).

We hope that with our research efforts over the years and the knowledge we have brought, are bringing and will bring to students in Vietnam through our programs, we will contribute a small part to the development of high-quality human resources in Vietnam.

What advice do you have for young Vietnamese people pursuing careers in science and technology, so that they can develop themselves and contribute to the country?

- I feel very happy and look forward to the turning point changes in Vietnam in the coming time. "Vietnam is entering a new era, the era of rising up", as many recent comments from the Vietnamese and international press have said.

Therefore, in order for young Vietnamese people to pursue a career in science and technology (S&T) to develop themselves and contribute to the country, in my opinion, young people need to clearly understand the importance of national digital transformation, equip themselves with knowledge about digital technology, DSAI and other new technologies to be able to keep up with future development trends.

As I shared above, participating in activities besides going to class should also be emphasized, for example, participating in innovation and startup movements, developing soft skills, foreign languages, actively participating in training and research programs.

One of the core values ​​of Naver Vietnam is to promote the spirit of autonomy and we strongly encourage young Vietnamese people to promote their spirit of autonomy, be proactive in learning, researching and constantly making efforts to overcome challenges.

Thank you for taking the time to chat!

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/cong-nghe/viet-nam-so-huu-mo-vang-nhan-luc-cntt-san-sang-canh-tranh-toan-cau-20250324132633036.htm