Ho Chi Minh City’s FDI rebound attracts high-tech giants

In recent months, Ho Chi Minh City has implemented a series of bold reforms to enhance its investment environment. Since 2024, the city has reinstated the one-stop mechanism at industrial and high-tech parks as part of efforts to streamline investment procedures for businesses.

According to the Management Board of the Saigon Hi-Tech Park (SHTP), this initiative has significantly reduced the time needed to complete investment procedures from a previous two-year wait to just six months, or even as little as four months.

Alongside improvements in the investment environment, the city is also accelerating investment in inter-regional transport and digital infrastructure.

As a result of these advancements, a number of high-tech giants, including NVIDIA, Marvell, Hyosung, and Evolution Data Centers Group, are increasing their investments in Ho Chi Minh City. Notably, chip giant NVIDIA has consistently sent delegations to conduct surveys in the city and has recently held three working sessions with local leaders.

NVIDIA is eager to collaborate in training and developing an artificial intelligence (AI) workforce, supporting AI startups, and establishing both an AI research and development center and an AI data hub in Vietnam.

Keith Strier, Vice President of NVIDIA, highlighted the city’s immense potential to develop and master AI technologies, noting that it is home to around one million IT engineers. Additionally, Ho Chi Minh City National University is enhancing its training capacity to meet the growing human resource demands of the AI sector.

Moreover, the city boasts a robust ecosystem of IT and semiconductor companies that are primed for integration into the rapidly evolving AI industry.

In the first three months of the year, FDI in Ho Chi Minh City reached US$567.2 million, a 23.4% increase compared to the same period last year. With a total of 13,875 valid projects amounting to nearly US$59.1 billion in capital, Ho Chi Minh City continues to be the top destination for foreign investment nationwide.