In 2023, Ho Chi Minh City achieved a significant milestone as total investments in industrial parks and export processing zones surpassed $1 billion for the first time in a single year, according to a local official.
The exact amount reached $1.012 billion, exceeding the target by 184 percent and soaring by 84 percent compared to 2022. Foreign investments constituted over $222 million, a 13.4 percent increase from 2022. Domestic investments totaled more than VND18.5 trillion, equivalent to $789 million, witnessing a nearly 124 percent surge from 2022. This capital included approximately VND16.7 trillion ($675.6 million) invested in 46 new projects.
One noteworthy investment, a project focusing on information technology, digital transformation, and data center development by the Vietnamese military-run Viettel Group in the outlying Cu Chi District, carried a price tag of $624 million, as disclosed by Hua Quoc Hung, the head of the Ho Chi Minh City Export Processing and Industrial Zones Authority (HEPZA), during a press conference on Wednesday.
The project was introduced at a conference promoting investment in Hoc Mon and Cu Chi Districts in 2022, according to HEPZA.
Domestic and foreign investments, along with the average investment per hectare of land in industrial parks and export processing zones in 2023, showed improvement over the previous year. This indicates that Ho Chi Minh City has been judicious in selecting projects, even with limited available land, with the objective of attracting larger investors, stated Hung.
According to HEPZA, Ho Chi Minh City presently hosts 17 industrial and export processing zones, housing nearly 1,700 projects and employing almost 252,100 workers, marking an eight percent decrease compared to 2022.
Enterprises within these zones contributed over VND23 trillion ($932.4 million) to the city’s budget, constituting 5.25 percent of the total budget revenue for the city, as reported by news site VnExpress.
Nguyen Vo Minh Thu, deputy head of HEPZA, reported that a survey of 520 enterprises employing more than 184,700 workers indicated that most companies faced production and business challenges in 2023, yet they made efforts to provide Lunar New Year bonuses to their employees. The average holiday bonus for employees in industrial parks and export processing zones was VND7.3 million ($296).
HEPZA has set a target to attract $550 million in investments in industrial parks and export processing zones in 2024, with an average of $8.5 million per hectare of land.
