Vietnam and Japan sign AI research pact and patent fast-track deal

Vietnam and Japan signed an artificial intelligence research memorandum and a patent fast-track agreement on November 9, during General Secretary-State President To Lam's official visit to Tokyo. Vietnam's Ministry of Science and Technology announced the deals on Monday.

Vu Hai Quan, Vietnam's Minister of Science and Technology, and Yasuyoshi Kakita, Deputy Minister for Policy Coordination at Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), signed the AI memorandum. The numbers attached to it are specific: the two countries plan to jointly train 100 AI doctoral candidates.

The memorandum sets out three areas of cooperation:

• Joint research and development on AI, AI for science, and related technologies
• Exchanges of researchers and experts, including workshops and joint research activities
• Sharing of research results and the practical application of AI

Both sides will expand cooperation through the NEXUS program, an existing Vietnam–Japan framework built around semiconductors and high-tech workforce development, and extend it to cover AI.

What does the patent agreement change?

Vietnam's Intellectual Property Office and the Japan Patent Office (JPO) signed a bilateral agreement on the Patent Prosecution Highway Navigator, designed to speed up patent examination.

Under the deal, Vietnam will regularly provide a list of patent applications requesting fast-track examination through the PPH program. The JPO, in turn, will supply the reasons it granted corresponding Japanese patents, supporting Vietnamese examiners.

The target is concrete: cut the average time to the first substantive examination result to eight months from the date a fast-track request is received. The ministry said the scheme should help businesses, research institutions and universities reduce time and fees, speed up the establishment of intellectual property rights, and move research results into commercial use.

What did the two leaders agree in Tokyo?

At their talks in Tokyo on November 9, To Lam and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi agreed that technology cooperation should shift from transfer to joint research, joint investment and shared markets.

The leaders named a broad list of expansion areas: AI, semiconductors, quantum technology, robotics, energy technology, biotechnology, high-speed rail and space. They also agreed to promote AI cooperation within the Japan–ASEAN AI co-creation initiative and to link universities and research institutes in both countries.

On digital infrastructure, the priorities are no less specific. The two sides named submarine cables, Open RAN, AI-RAN, 5G and 6G, satellite communications, and all-optical networks.

How deep does the partnership go?

The joint statement from the visit records 14 joint crediting mechanism projects and 15 Vietnam–Japan energy projects under the Asia Zero Emission Community, including LNG-fired power plants backed by Japanese investors.

The commercial track is moving too. In a related deal reported the same day, Japan's Sojitz agreed to buy 5% of Vietnam's Masan High-Tech Materials, after a $125 million deal involving the US firm Elmet.

Taken together, the visit shifts Vietnam–Japan tech ties from piecemeal transfer toward joint research, shared infrastructure standards and faster IP protection — with the eight-month patent target as the first measurable test.