On the afternoon of May 12, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Vietnam launched the 2025 Human Development Report (HDR) of UNDP in Vietnam with the theme "E era of Artificial Intelligence and Choices for Human Development".
According to VNA, the report analyzes the human development process based on the Human Development Index (HDI), measuring achievements in healthcare, education and income. According to the report, Vietnam's HDI in 2023 will reach 0.766 - placing Vietnam in the group of countries with high human development - ranking 93rd out of a total of 193 countries and territories.
From 1990-2023, Vietnam's HDI index increased from 0.499 to 0.766, up 53.5%, showing an impressive progress. This year's Human Development Report shows that the global human development progress is stagnant at an unprecedented level.
The report also shows that artificial intelligence (AI) can become a new motivation to promote development. Instead of achieving a stable recovery momentum after a serious crisis of 2020-2021, the report shows that the current progress is much weaker than expected. Eliminating 2 years of crisis by Covid-19, the global growth of human development is forecasted in this year's report as the lowest increase since 1990 of the twentieth century.
Speaking at the event, Ms. Ramla Khalidi - Permanent Representative of UNDP in Vietnam informed that the 2025 Human Development Report clearly stated: The impact of AI on human happiness is not a matter of necessity. Thereby, the United Nations calls on governments and society to shape AI consciously so that AI serves humans, not the other way around.
For Vietnam, Ms. Ramla Khalidi emphasized that the challenge is real and urgent because Vietnam's digital transformation process is taking place rapidly; the country's development vision is very high. Artificial Intelligence is currently the focus of national discussions on the future of Vietnam.
Ms. Ramla Khalidi said that although Vietnam's HDI index is at a high level in the world, human development in regions, areas, and population groups is still not uniform, and the gap with countries in the top HDI group in the ASEAN region has not narrowed much.
In this context, AI can help narrow these gaps but can also make this gap longer. Ms. Ramla Khalidi emphasized that Vietnam needs to take immediate action to avoid falling into that gap. She also said that the decisions on the AI vision of the Party and State of Vietnam such as Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW, dated December 22, 2024 of the Politburo on breakthroughs in the development of science, technology, innovation and national digital transformation; Decision No. 127/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister promulgating the National Strategy on research, development and application of artificial intelligence by 2030 not only create a legal framework for Vietnam to apply new technological tools but can also build AI capacity in its own way.
UNDP highly appreciates Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's call for training 100,000 semiconductor and AI engineers. In the appeal, the Prime Minister emphasized that AI must be safe, ethical and comprehensive.
The UNDP leader in Vietnam affirmed that this organization will support Vietnam in implementing the goals in the national strategy on AI, ensuring AI becomes a force for humanity's fairness, sustainability and progress in Vietnam and the world. At the event, scientists, policymakers, technology experts, businesses and delegates discussed how to make AI a driving force for human development, in line with Vietnam's sustainable development goals and national digital transformation strategies.
