 So, welcome. Looking forward to this discussion with the Prime Minister of Vietnam, but to kick it off, I'm going to ask Klaus Schwab, the founder of the WEF, to give us a few brief words. Klaus. Thank you, Thomas. Thomas, I'm particularly pleased and honored to introduce Prime Minister Pan-Chieng. Prime Minister, we have met several times. You promised to join us in Davos, and now you are here together. It's a great delegation. And I think it's so important to have your presence, because since you assumed the position of the Prime Minister, your country has embarked into reform policies. You are transforming the country really into a new powerhouse with a very straight forward-looking vision of creating a green and a intelligent economy, I would say. And also, if we look at the statistics, Vietnam now is not only a star in East Asia, but really on a global level if we look at also growth rates, which are exceeding many similar countries, I think you are in the process of becoming a very important partner in the global economy. Therefore, we appreciate your presence, and I am very pleased that my old friend Tom will chair this discussion. So again, also, the whole delegation from Vietnam is very cordial welcome, and we even have prepared some sunshine for you. Terrific, thank you, Klaus. I hope so. Prime Minister, it's great to be here with you. It's a treat for me as someone who's visited your country, and I've had a chance to even sell some books there. And so it's been really one of the highlights for me to have this chance to have this conversation. I want to start with a general question of your sort of long-term vision for Vietnam's development. You began globalizing with sort of lower-skilled jobs in lower-level technology products. You're now moving to higher technology products, which will require higher-skilled workforce. Talk about what is your vision, and how do you see yourself making this leap from the low end of the global export market to the high end? Thank you very much, Mr. Freeman, for giving me an opportunity to discuss on the long-term vision of Vietnam. Our objective is to build a strong nation, attach importance to the wealth, the overall development of the people with a vision to 2030. Vietnam will become a development country, a modern industry with upper-middle income. Our goal is by 2050, Vietnam will become a developed nation with high income. So that is the overall objective of Vietnam. In order to accomplish that goal, we need to develop and implement three major pillars. First, to develop a socialist-oriented democracy, to maximize the power of our nation, and bring into full play our nation's unity and solidarity. Second, we need to develop a rule of law state by the people, for the people. And third, it is our goal to develop the socialist-oriented market economy. When we talk about market economy, it needs to revolve around the demand and supply principle, and competition principle. But it needs to have the engagement of the state in terms of need. When unpredictabilities occur, similar to those we witnessed in COVID-19 era, those are the three pillars that we are aiming to reach. But most importantly, we attach importance to the people. The people should become the focal point, should become the driver for growth. We will not sacrifice social equity environment protection for pure economic growth. Additionally, Vietnam implements the foreign policy of South Alliance. We diversify our international relations. We are just a friend and partner of all countries around the world. We are a reliable partner for the purpose of peace and development in the region and the world. We develop an economy of independence, self-reliance, with active international integration in an active and substantial manner. And we also carry out the defense policy of four nodes, no military alliance, no signing with one country against another country, not allowing a third country using our territory as a military base. And we do not use force or threaten to use force in international relations. Another important issue I would like to touch upon is that we always maximize the national identity, the national unity. We can refer to as the culture. Those factors serve as the foundation of the nation. The culture will shed the light for the whole people, the whole country to follow. It should become an overracking vision for us. Mr. Freeman, if we talk about the development taking place around the world, as you mentioned, we see new engines for growth. Digital transformation, green transformation, circular economy, and therefore Vietnam needs to take stock of what's happening around the world in order to develop a suitable policy and also to realize the policy in a substantive manner to ensure sustainable and fast growth in our country to leave no one behind. These are exciting you most right now, Prime Minister. Which industries are exciting you most? Because I've been reading about Vietnam's next decade plan. And you want to be manufacturing semiconductors. You want to be basically participating in the future AI economy. What does that require of the government? And what will it require by way of education? For the industries to grow forward, as I share in the national vision, we need to develop a modern and industrialized nation. We need to attach importance to all industries as a whole that serve our national objectives. Nevertheless, we need to have a list of priorities. As you mentioned, the area and industry that I am excited about the most. Given the current context, importance should be attached to digitalization, artificial information, and green transition. These are the areas that I think we should give priorities to. This is an objective request globally. This is a strategic option and also the top priority of Vietnam. In order to achieve success in innovation, in digitalization, we need to promote startups spirit. In order to do that, we need to carry out three important strategic breakthroughs. First, institutional development. When we talk about the movement, when we talk about development, it should be backed up by a good institutional framework. Only by having a good institutional framework can we harness our potential and competitiveness. The second breakthrough I would like to refer to is infrastructure. Information, technology, infrastructure particularly. When we talk about energy, when we talk about power, when we talk about satellite and signal, we need to ensure smooth infrastructure facility. And the third breakthrough is human. Human is the decisive fighter to ensure the success of our growth. In order to turn Vietnam into a hub for semiconductor chip, we need engineering in semiconductor. We are having a plan to train 50,000 to 100,000 semiconductor engineers in the future. If the leader and there are many here of a similar developing nation were to come to you for advice saying Vietnam has really made a quite remarkable transition, what would be the top two pieces of advice you would give to another developing country who might be here in Davos, leader from your experience? What do you think are the two most important things a country needs to keep in mind if it wants to grow in the way and at speed that Vietnam has? I would like to share with you, Mr. Frightman, some general information. Throughout the course of development, there are five important experiences. First, we need to remain unwavering in maintaining independence, also in line with our socialist orientation. The second one is that the people should be those who make history. The third one is national unity. The unity within the party, within the people, and also international unity. The fourth factor is that we need to combine the national strength with the strength of the times. And the last one is the right decision made by the party. Everything should be done for the benefit of the people, for the well-being of the people. So those are the five important lessons that we attach importance to during the course of national development that I would like to share to you. And going back to your question, the two pieces of advice I have for developing country, resources coming from our mindset, the momentum coming from reform, the power originates from the people. Given our current context, we are facing crisis in strategic trust. And I am personally impressed with the theme of the annual meeting of WAF this year, which is to rebuild strategic trust. All of the things happening in the world right now are global issues, and no single country can deal with global issues alone. And therefore, if I have an advice for them to give, because all issues that matter the most are global issues, we need to hold in high regards multilateral approach to deal with pandemic issues, climate change, no individual country is safe if other countries are affected by epidemics, by war, and by climate change. The second piece of advice I would like to give to developing country is that all of the issues are closely related to the people, and therefore, when we handle and resolve any issues, we need to consider the people at the center of all of our solutions. The people should be a part of the solution, and they should be the major beneficiary of all of our policy. So those are our two pieces of advice. A lot of developing countries look at Vietnam and they see something, a lot of developing countries look at Vietnam and see something quite unusual. They see a country that has fought wars against both the United States and China, and yet you've managed to balance good relations with both today. President Biden just recently visited Vietnam, and short while later, President Xi came. So there aren't too many countries that have managed to balance the G2. How did you do it? Give us your secret. Thank you very much for such an interesting question. I would like to share with you, following the Second World War, the nation that suffered the most is Vietnam. We went through all ups and downs following World War II. We fought against fascism, right? When we gained independence in 1945, and right shortly after that, we fought against colonialism, which ended by the Viet Binh Phu victory in 1954 with Jeanne. And then our nation was divided into two parts. So it was such a sad story. The third part, my stone was that the north of Vietnam enjoyed peace, but the southern part of Vietnam had to fight against neo-colonialism. So after three decades of war, we regained independence and we liberated our nation in 1975. The one thing we was not able to predict was that we need to fight against poverty, genocidal regime against humanity. And then we had to overcome the border war in the northern and western part of our nation. But the world misunderstood us and imposed sanction and siege against us. Not until 1986 did those embargo become invalid. So those historical backgrounds showcase the sacrifices that we suffer. Nevertheless, we do not forget the past. That is a part of the history. We cannot distort the past and history, but we need to shelf the past to respect differences, to harness our similarities, and look forward to the future. And Vietnam can become a symbol of the spirit of restoring the world legacy, world consequences from former enemies. We become friends. The two countries, G2, as you mentioned, they are comparative strategic partners of Vietnam and we became friends. For China, not only are we friends, but we are comrades. For the United States, we are comprehensive strategic partners. And now what we do is to look forward to a brighter future. This is a symbol. I can say this is the symbol of shelfing the past. President Biden comes to you and says, look, everything's good with us, but could you cool it a little with China? And when President Xi then comes 10 days later and says, everything's good between us, but could you step back a little from the Americans? What do you say? I just want to get in the room where it happens, you know, hear what it sounds like. The most important achievement from the two important trips is that we enhance the political trust together. Once we have the political trust, we have a sense of sympathy, a sense of mutual respect and mutual understanding. Building upon that platform, I must say that the two countries, the United States and China, are all friends, close friends of Vietnam. And when we have political trust, that is very important. If one of the two presidents advise me, like you said, I will respond to them that Vietnam pursues a foreign policy of being a reliable friend and partner with own countries for security, stability for development, because we want to enhance the relations with both the United States and China for the ultimate goal of sharing the mutual benefits. And there's no reason to advise us to take side with one country against the other country. I don't know if my answer can satisfy your question or not. Otherwise, you can raise another question for me. Thank you. Mr. Prime Minister, how is Vietnam experiencing climate change? And what are you doing by way of innovation, either regulatory or through manufacturing and through exports, to reach your vision of having a clean and green economy? But how has the weather changed in Vietnam? Vietnam is among five to six countries suffering the most by climate change, and we are located in the Mekong Delta region, and we face difficulties in drought, in saline intrusion, in landslide, so on and so forth. And therefore, we must identify one thing. We need to live with climate change, with a positive attitude. We need to come up with different solutions, active solutions to fight against climate change. One of those solutions include realizing our commitment, reach in 26 to reach net zero emission by 2050, the sooner, the better. Recently, we are implementing various solutions related to anti-slides, anti-drought, anti-saline intrusion by navigating various initiatives. And we are the first country to dedicate 1 million hectare of land for high quality rice cultivation with low emission. It is one of the initiatives that we are implementing, not only to ensure food security in Vietnam, but the food security around the world. Secondly, we are building more forests, and we are looking for carbon credit. We are trying to reduce the emission of methane coming from husbandry, coming from agricultural activities. The theme of this year's annual conference is rebuilding trust. How are you, and to what extent have you already, absorbing AI systems in your manufacturing, but also in your schools and in your general public? Is AI just arriving to Vietnam? Is it two years old? And if it is two years old, how is it manifesting itself? AI is a chant that we need to attach importance to it. We cannot ignore AI. And we cannot do it as we want to do it. There are two sides of the coin. AI has its pros and cons. We need to maximize the pros, but there are cons in it as well. But we need to come up with different solutions to harness and maximize the pros and to minimize the cons of artificial intelligence. That is our overall policy towards AI. We need to pursue the goal. In order to promote AI growth, we need data. We need big data. In the immediate term, we need to develop a national database system, which we are doing right now. All of the sectors of the ministries, all of the localities need to develop database center. That is the most important thing. The second thing I want to highlight is infrastructure. And the third one is incentive policy. When we want to give priorities to AI, we need to come up with incentive policy to attract the participation of not only the private sector, the public sector. And last but not least, we need to give priority to human resource capacity building. It will not come within days. We need to train our human capital from the lower level of education to a higher level of education. Accommodating me, we have the presence of the Ministry of Minister of Education and Training. We need to attach importance to human resource capacity building. We need to have, all in all, we need to have institution. We need to have infrastructure. We need to have education and training. We need to have high skilled human resources. In reality, we are implementing all of those above mentioned goal. It is happening right now in my country, in a smooth fashion. This is a follow-up to an earlier question. But how do you go as a country from assembling Samsung phones, mobile phones, to using Samsung mobile phones? That is, your aspiration is to be a technology powerhouse one day, like South Korea, for instance, is the Vietnam's biggest foreign investor, which is interesting. But how do you make that leap from assembly to design, which is where the real, you know, growth opportunities are? How do you do that? We are the latecomer. We can enjoy the opportunities, the lessons that set for us. We need to take advantage of the opportunities and minimize all of the challenges and the difficulties of being a latecomer, of those who walk after. The first thing we need to do is to call upon investors in high technology industry. When they come into Vietnam, we will facilitate the investment environment, the market. The second thing we do is that we give priorities to developing an R&D center in Vietnam. Medicine for science, for technology, or just sort of general R&D center? In all industry, we require the same. In principle, we call upon foreign investors to set up R&D in our country. For example, high technology, mobile phones, when they want to do that in Vietnam, we request that there should be a human capacity building center in Vietnam or an R&D center in Vietnam, and there must be a plant or a manufacturer, which can produce the high quality products. So those are our requests. But in order to meet all of our requests, it depends on their capacity. But in order to facilitate their operation in Vietnam, we always stand ready and we are willing to do so. In regulatory frameworks, in infrastructure facilities, we are willing to do that. But all in all, it revolves around trust, hope, and determination. One of the success stories is Samsung, or Foxconn, and DVR. The CEO and Chairman of NVIDIA just visited Vietnam and they say to me that Vietnam will become the second home of NVIDIA. So those are the examples of what we are doing. But whether we are going fast or going slow, whether it will be effective or not, it depends on the trust and depends on the ability to provide supply. I hope that things will turn out better in the long run. Prime Minister, we've run out of time here. We have another session coming up. But I just want to thank you for coming, for sharing your thoughts. As someone who's been a visitor to Vietnam, I've been impressed at how you – the positive slope of the country that you're on. And for someone who's on his first visit to Davos, you've done very well. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Mr. Friedman. Time does not wait for anyone, but innovation and technology is limitless. We save time. In order to save time, we need to attach importance to innovation and reform. Thank you very much.