By Joanna Tan · AI in APAC · October 14, 2026

Vietnam’s National Technology Innovation Fund (NATIF) has opened a new funding line designed to pull AI out of the pilot stage and into daily operations at Vietnamese businesses. Projects selected under the 2026 programme can receive state co-financing of up to 3 billion VND (roughly $114,000 to $150,000), covering as much as half of total project costs, with participating companies funding the rest.

NATIF expects to back around 15 flagship AI projects in 2026, scaling to roughly 50 a year from 2027. Disbursement is tied to milestones rather than paid upfront: 20% once a company has defined its AI problem and prepared its data, 30% once a model has been developed, and the remaining 50% only after it is operating and delivering measured productivity gains.

The model draws explicit inspiration from Singapore’s “100 Experiments” programme. Priority sectors include manufacturing, agriculture, healthcare, logistics, and public administration, with Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang and Tay Ninh named as priority locations. Applications for the first funding round closed on 10 October, and interest arrived quickly: the Vietnam Association of Science and Technology Enterprises logged 26 proposals within days of the window opening, split between companies looking to apply AI and smaller technology firms offering to build the solutions.

The programme follows Vietnam’s national AI strategy through 2030, approved in late August, and reflects a broader regional pattern: rather than leaving adoption costs to sort themselves out, Vietnam is using milestone-based public co-funding to help manufacturers and service businesses get past the up-front cost barrier that often stalls AI projects beyond the pilot stage.

Source: VietnamPlus (29 September 2026); TechRepublic (October 2026)

Joanna Tan covers AI investment, policy and the business of AI for AIAPAC.ai Insights.