Danang targets high-tech investments to lift growth

The central city of Danang plans to provide various incentives for high-tech investment in a move to raise its high-tech park’s contribution to gross regional domestic product (GRDP) to at least 10-15% from 2025-2030.

The city’s high-tech park, one of three in Vietnam and the only one in the central and Central Highlands region, has completed infrastructure development, Danang Chairman Le Trung Chinh told an investment promotion conference on Friday.

Danang will prioritize high-tech investments in IT, communications, biotechnology, precision mechanics, microelectronics, automation, new energy technology, environmental technology, and nanotechnology, among others, Chinh added.

The high-tech park has attracted 29 investment projects with registered capital of over $900 million. However, only eight have been implemented and put into operation, with three or four others set to start operations this year, according to Nguyen Cong Tien, vice head of the Danang High-Tech Park and Industrial Zones Authority.

The high-tech park now offers preferential policies like corporate income tax and import tax exemptions, and visa support for experts and expatriates, he noted.

Addressing projects with slow or no progress, Tien attributed the problem to post-pandemic issues. The high-tech park will inspect and revoke land for these projects where necessary to reallocate the sites, he said, adding that authorities had already started these procedures for some logistics projects.

Regarding land for logistics development in the city, the municipal investment promotion agency said Danang has allocated 90 hectares at Lien Chieu seaport and 50 hectares at Hoa Nhon Industrial Park.

Buerstedde Peter, Vietnam director of Germany Trade & Invest, lauded Danang for dedicating a specific area for high-tech development. He proposed the city upgrade its logistics capacity, along with the construction of Lien Chieu seaport.

Nguyen Thanh Hoa, a representative of KPMG, suggested that Danang should offer more preferential policies to attract investors.

Savills Vietnam, a property service firm, proposed the Danang High-Tech Park help firms and investors with administrative procedures, given that it takes a long time to gain approval for high-tech projects in most other cities and provinces in Vietnam.

At the conference, Takamoto Abe, a representative of IDG Capital, said the firm wants to invest in industry, tourism, and green energy, and urged the city to focus on education to provide a high-quality workforce, especially engineers. In reply, Tien said the municipality is cooperating with universities to build its workforce.

Long Hau Corporation, a local industrial real estate developer, signed a memorandum of understanding with Japanese-backed Nakano Precision Co. Ltd. at the event to lease a ready-built factory within Danang High-Tech Park.