Ambassador Johan Ndisi speaks at the launch of ViGEN project in Hanoi in early October (Photo: Bao Tram)

Bao Tram: Thank you Ambassador Johan Ndisi, for talking with VOV24/7. Sweden is known as a global leader in digital innovation and AI. Could you share a brief on the development of the AI ecosystem in Sweden?

Ambassador Johan Ndisi: Thank you very much for having me on your show to discuss a topic that really connects Sweden and Vietnam. We’re having this interview just after Sweden, for the third year in a row, was ranked number 2 in the world in the Global Innovation Index. That’s something we’re proud of and continue to work on.

In our system, we have an innovation partnership where government, companies, and academia work hand in hand. The government promises to make data accessible and open to the public, academia uses it for research, and companies use it for their analysis of new products. This partnership gives us results year after year.

That’s not enough — you also need investment in infrastructure, because we have to have trusted and secure data networks. We’re also investing in education, so that both young and older people have the right competencies for the future.

Bao Tram: As a partner accompanying the ViGEN project, how does the Swedish Embassy plan to support Vietnam in developing the AI ecosystem, especially in promoting ethical and responsible use of AI, particularly in fields like healthcare and education where structured data can drive meaningful innovation?

Ambassador Johan Ndisi: We all have a responsibility to ensure ethical use of AI. It’s a huge opportunity for us to make progress in global challenges such as climate change and healthcare, but it must be built on trusted data networks so that private information is protected.

Healthcare is a promising field of cooperation. Vietnam structures its healthcare data in the same way Sweden does. That means Vietnamese researchers can go to Sweden and use the data in their research, and Swedish researchers can come here and use the data as well. It provides a huge potential for medical cooperation.

Next year we’re celebrating 50 years of Swedish–Vietnamese partnership in healthcare. Swedish universities and companies like AstraZeneca are already working with Vietnamese partners, using structured data to develop healthcare products that can be used globally.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh visits the Physics Department at the Royal Institute of Technology of Sweden as part of his official visit to Sweden in June. (Photo: VNA/Duong Giang)

Bao Tram: How do you see AI and digital innovation cooperation between the two countries evolving?

Ambassador Johan Ndisi: We can do quite a lot on this. Ericsson, for example, is working with RMIT and has an AI lab there. A few weeks ago, I was at RMIT in Ho Chi Minh City for a Nobel Prize event focused on AI. We had one of our top AI leaders from Sweden speaking online, and there was a very good discussion between Vietnamese and Swedish experts. We had Ericsson, AstraZeneca, and others involved — and there were 2.3 million viewers online, which shows the interest.

As the Swedish Ambassador, my role is to be a connector — between the Vietnamese government and companies and Swedish partners — to make sure we connect the right people. With our new strategic partnership in science, technology, innovation, and digital transition, we’ll have yearly dialogues to follow up.

Just this summer, several big Swedish companies — Ericsson, AstraZeneca, SEB Bank, and the Wallenberg family investments — together with NVIDIA, established a new AI factory and supercomputer in Sweden. The good news is that these companies are also present here in Vietnam, so I’m hoping we’ll see results of that cooperation in the AI sector here soon.

Bao Tram: Thank you, Mr. Ambassador, for your time and insights.

Ambassador Johan Ndisi: Thank you very much.