Hanoi, April 3 -- The emerging low-altitude economy is unlocking a market worth hundreds of billions of US dollars as drones and air taxis move toward real-world deployment, yet Vietnamese firms remain largely confined to service roles, lacking control of core technologies and facing an uncertain position in the race to capture the "low-altitude skies."

A race gaining altitude

The low-altitude economy covers economic activities conducted in lower airspace, ranging from drone delivery and infrastructure inspection to precision agriculture and electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) air mobility.

Morgan Stanley estimates the sector could reach 9 trillion USD globally by 2050, signalling that low-altitude airspace is evolving into ...