Danang rolls out red carpet for South Korea ICT investments

Danang is working with the South Korean consulate in the central coastal city to lure more ICT businesses to invest in the municipality as well as the broader central region.

Speaking at a forum Monday on expanding bilateral cooperation in information and xommunications technology (ICT), South Korean consulate general in Danang Kang Boo Sung said businesses from his country were active in the central region, especially Danang, which is home to leading IT education centers, including the Vietnam-Korea University of Information and Communication Technology.

He said he would continue to hold talks with various Vietnamese localities to further facilitate the entry of Korean ICT firms and expand high-tech cooperation between the two countries.

More than 40 Korean ICT businesses attending the forum gathered information about the investment environment and prospects in the central region. The forum also provided a venue for one on one matching sessions between Korean and Vietnamese ICT businesses.

Nguyen Quang Thanh, director of Danang’s Department of Information and Communications, noted that South Korea accounted for the highest number of foreign direct investment projects in the city at 279 and was among the five largest foreign investors by value at $382 million.

He noted that a May 24 decision by the Politburo, Vietnam’s highest decision-making body, has outlined the goal of making Danang an innovation and startup hub as well as a training center to create a skilled workforce for the semiconductor and artificial intelligence (AI) skilled industries.

To realize the target, the city was taking a series of measures, with a focus on infrastructure, manpower and investment incentives, Thanh said.

It has prepared available land as well as IT and software parks to host ICT investments. The city is set to operate a second software park by the end of this year, expecting to attract some 6,000 laborers.

Other utilities like submarine communications cables, electricity, transportation and logistics are capable of meeting demands of ICT, microchip, semiconductor and AI investors, he added.

In terms of workforce preparation, Danang had 37 IT-related education centers that released some 5,700 engineer graduates annually, he noted.

Danang-based universities have forged partnerships with partners in the U.S., South Korea and Taiwan to train manpower in the fields of ICT, microchips and AI, he added.

Thanh also asked Korean firms to support Danang-based online game developers in terms of production and distribution.