Vietnam's economic hub HCMC a magnet for high-tech projects

Ho Chi Minh City is drawing a wave of high-tech investments, including a $2 billion data center project backed by a UAE sovereign wealth fund.

Flagship projects include military-run Viettel Group’s 140 MW High-Tech Data Center and R&D Complex, set to become one of the largest in Southeast Asia and the first in Vietnam to have such a hyperscale capacity.

In April, Viettel began construction on the nearly 4-ha complex in the Tan Phu Trung Industrial Park, which will house approximately 10,000 server racks.

The facility will offer an average rack power density of 10 kW - 2.5 times higher than the national average - with peak capacity reaching 60 kW per rack. This high-performance setup is engineered to meet the computational demands of large-scale AI models and applications.

In late June, the management board of the Saigon Hi-Tech Park (SHTP) officially approved a $250 million hyperscale data center project by another Vietnamese tech major CMC Corporation.

“Unlike traditional data centers, the center is designed as a digital "heart" – a powerhouse for data storage, processing, and analysis, delivering services such as AI-as-a-service, cloud infrastructure, big data, and cyber security to millions of users,” the company wrote on its website.

In addition, the people’s committee has received a proposal to invest in a $2 billion hyperscale data center dedicated to AI development from a consortium comprising Group 42 Holding Ltd (G42) (with major shareholders including a UAE sovereign wealth fund and U.S. tech giant Microsoft), Vietnam’s tech giant FPT Corporation, investment fund manager VinaCapital, and Viet Thai Group.

The people’s committee, together with the investors, recently reported the project to Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Chi Dung, who expressed his support for its implementation.

In March, HCMC-headquartered Saigon Asset Management (SAM), led by Louis Nguyen, announced the launch of its SAM DigitalHub data center project, located on a 50-hectare site in the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) in the former Binh Duong province, with a projected capacity of 150 MW and a total investment of up to $1.5 billion.

In October, the HCMC Department of Finance signed an MoU with the U.S.-based stock exchange Nasdaq on the development of an international financial center (IFC). Under the document, the two sides will pursue a strategic partnership in governance, capacity building, cross-listing, and product development. Vietnam is developing an IFC, located in both HCMC and Danang city.

The same month, the SHTP signed an MoU with U.S. chipmaker Intel, under which Intel will donate a range of used equipment and machinery from its chip packaging and testing operations to SHTP, solely for training and research purposes.

HCMC contributes about 23% of Vietnam’s GDP and 27% of state budget revenue. In 2025, total factor productivity (TFP) is projected to make up 59% of the city’s GRDP growth, with science and technology accounting for 74% of that contribution.

The city has built a strong foundation in science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation, featuring the SHTP, the High-Tech Agricultural Park, 10 major data centers, nearly 200 science and technology enterprises, and more than 500 research organizations. HCMC currently ranks 30th globally in blockchain development.

In 2025, spending on science, technology, and innovation is set to account for 1.51% of the city’s total budget expenditure. In the first nine months of the year, the sector attracted nearly $1.8 billion in FDI, making up 40% of the total FDI inflow.