A corporation plans to invest in a $2 billion AI metadata center in Ho Chi Minh City

Reduced 300 procedures, equivalent to 1,900 working hours

On the morning of October 15, the first Ho Chi Minh City Party Congress, term 2025-2030, held its closing session.

Speaking at the congress, Mr. Lam Dinh Thang, Director of the Department of Science and Technology of Ho Chi Minh City, said that science, technology (KHCN) and innovation (ĐMST) have affirmed their role as important driving forces for the growth of Ho Chi Minh City. In this field, the city has achieved positive results that lay the foundation for development in the next 5 years.

Specifically, TFP (total factor productivity) is a factor that affirms the contribution of science and technology to the city's growth. It is expected that by the end of 2025, TFP will reach 59%, and will continue to play a leading role in growth in the next 5 years.

Ho Chi Minh City’s digital economy contributes 22% to GRDP in 2024 and is expected to increase to 25% in 2025. Currently, the city ranks second in the Digital Transformation Index and the National Innovation Index. The city’s innovative startup ecosystem is ranked 110th globally and 5th in Southeast Asia. The city rose to 30th in the world in blockchain.

Mr. Lam Dinh Thang, Director of the Department of Science and Technology of Ho Chi Minh City, presented a speech at the Congress. Photo: Provided by the Organizing Committee

To achieve the above results, the city has built many unique and outstanding mechanisms and policies to attract talent and investment capital.

For example, Ho Chi Minh City provides non-refundable financial support for innovation; has preferential policies on salaries and wages; and forms research centers that meet international standards.

Mr. Thang said that the city has made efforts to reform administration and attract investment. Accordingly, the locality has reduced nearly 300 procedures related to production and business, equivalent to more than 1,900 working days.

In addition, Ho Chi Minh City has established specialized working groups to provide direct and timely support to strategic investors. Thanks to that, in the first 6 months of 2025 alone, the science and technology sector has attracted 1.6 billion USD (accounting for 40%) of FDI capital. The city has more than 140 science and technology enterprises, ranking second in the country.

According to the Director of the Department of Science and Technology, many of the world's leading technology corporations have opened offices and research and development centers in the city, typically SAP (Germany), Marvell, and Qualcomm (USA).

In particular, Ho Chi Minh City focuses on human resource training with nearly 100 high-quality training units in the city. The city is home to more than 55% of the country's programmers. Since the beginning of 2025, more than 40,000 officials, civil servants and hundreds of excellent students have been trained in artificial intelligence (AI).

3 strategic breakthroughs for science and technology

Besides the achievements, Mr. Thang acknowledged that the city's science and technology sector is also facing some major challenges.

For example, the science and technology management mechanism is not flexible enough to follow the market economy. The city lacks testing space for new technology products. The data infrastructure is not yet complete for comprehensive digital transformation. Therefore, the locality really needs support from central ministries and branches.

In addition, the "3-house" linkage model has not really developed in depth. Total social expenditure for research and development is still low.

Many technology products appeared at the exhibition to welcome the first Congress of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee, term 2025-2030. Photo: Nguyen Hue

According to the Director of the Department of Science and Technology, in the next 5 years, the city has identified a number of major goals:

Firstly, TFP contributes at least 60%, digital economy accounts for 30-40% of GRDP.

Second, Ho Chi Minh City will become an international-class Innovation Center by 2030. This is the task assigned to the city by the Central Steering Committee on Resolution 57.

Third, the innovative startup ecosystem is in the Top 100 most dynamic cities globally.

Fourth, Ho Chi Minh City has at least five research centers that meet international standards in strategic technology fields.

To realize these goals, Mr. Thang said, the city will focus on three strategic breakthroughs:

The first breakthrough is in mechanism, policy and investment attraction. The locality focuses on attracting strategic investors in the field of science and technology.

"The good news is that the UAE's G42 Group is planning to invest nearly $2 billion in an AI metadata center in the city," he said.

Along with that, Ho Chi Minh City develops high-tech zones and testing zones for new technologies according to specific mechanisms and has policies to promote private sector investment in science and technology.

The second breakthrough is in strategic technology and the innovation ecosystem. Ho Chi Minh City prioritizes the development of technologies that are its strengths such as artificial intelligence, semiconductor chips, robots, blockchain, and biomedicine.

The city needs to establish a fund to support startups according to a new model, attracting capital from venture capital funds. The city will coordinate with the Ho Chi Minh City National University to develop a project to turn the city into an international innovation center.

The third breakthrough is digital governance and digital human resources. The city accelerates the development of digital data and digital platforms for the city government to perfect the data-based management model.

Mr. Lam Dinh Thang said that the locality will strengthen the cooperation of "four houses" (schools - state - enterprises - investment funds, banks) along with technology diplomacy and attracting international experts. In addition, Ho Chi Minh City promotes the development of digital human resources to maintain and promote the city's position.

According to the website, G42 is a global corporation headquartered in Abu Dhabi (UAE). The company focuses on investing in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) and considers it a strength. G42 considers AI as a factor in enhancing human resources, industry and shaping a sustainable future. The corporation is invested by world-class investors such as: Mubadala, SilverLake, Microsoft, and the Dalio Family Office.

Vietnamnet.vn

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/mot-tap-doan-du-kien-dau-tu-trung-tam-sieu-du-lieu-ai-gia-tri-2-ty-usd-tai-tphcm-2452842.html