AIC, KBC to develop $2.1 bln AI data center in HCMC

Accelerated Infrastructure Capital Limited (AIC) and KinhBac City Development Holding Corporation (KBC) have partnered with international investors to develop a $2.1 billion AI data center in Ho Chi Minh City.

The project will be located at Tan Phu Trung Industrial Park and is expected to become one of the largest AI data infrastructure investments in Vietnam.

An MoU was signed on Wednesday between the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Science and Technology and AIC, in the presence of municipal Chairman Nguyen Van Duoc.

AIC, headquartered in London and Hong Kong, is an international investor specializing in data center and digital infrastructure development, with a global investment portfolio exceeding $20 billion. KBC is a leading industrial and residential real estate developer in Vietnam.

Under the plan, the joint venture between AIC, KBC and international partners will build a large-scale AI data center designed to attract high-tech companies; R&D centers; AI and cloud computing firms; as well as semiconductor-related businesses.

Lam Dinh Thang, director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Science and Technology, said the project marked an important milestone in cooperation between the city’s authorities and international investors in digital infrastructure and AI.

Meanwhile, Dang Thanh Tam, chairman of KBC, said the project is expected to become Vietnam’s first dedicated AI data center and support the development of smart urban infrastructure.

The facility will be built to high technical standards with energy-efficient and environmentally friendly designs. The initial phase will focus on developing an AI computing facility with a capacity of up to 50 MW of IT/GPU load, including around 28,000 graphics processing units.

The AI factory is expected to begin commercial operations in 2026, providing large-scale computing capacity for international customers, sovereign AI applications in Vietnam, and high-performance computing systems.

The project aims to develop internationally standardized data infrastructure to support socio-economic development and expand AI research and applications across multiple sectors.

Through collaboration with KBC and other partners, AIC aims to build a chain of hyperscale data centers and next-generation cloud computing (neocloud) to serve the rapidly growing demand for cloud computing and AI applications in the region.

Oliver Jones, co-founder of AIC, said he was impressed by the speed of investment procedures and the support from Ho Chi Minh City authorities. He noted that large-scale AI data centers require suitable land, power supply, technical infrastructure and a strong technology ecosystem, along with significant investment capital and supportive policies.

Separately on the same day, Andrew Rose, dean of the National University of Singapore Business School, said Vietnam’s plan to establish an international financial center, located in both Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang, reflected a structural shift in the country’s economic strategy.

The initiatives are designed to support sectors such as software engineering, data science, cybersecurity, AI and financial technology, while strengthening the country’s ambition to become a key growth driver in the digital economy and financial landscape of ASEAN.

Rose added that Vietnam’s economic momentum, supported by foreign investment inflows, a growing middle class and rapid digital transformation, would create new demands for management and governance capabilities, particularly in finance and technology sectors.

Policies such as the Politburo's Resolution 68 (on private sector developmentand) and Resolution 57 (on breakthroughs in the development of science, technology, innovation, and national digital transformation) place the private sector and innovation at the center of the country’s growth model, helping create a more competitive environment for domestic companies to scale up and compete globally.