This is a country with advanced information technology, with extensive experience and abundant resources, expected to reach about 350 billion USD in revenue by 2025.
Information technology is a strategic field
Ho Chi Minh City always considers information technology as one of the strategic fields to promote socio-economic development, improve people’s quality of life and improve administrative management efficiency.
To maximise the potential of information technology in the digital age, the locality not only focuses on developing digital infrastructure, but also promotes comprehensive digital transformation and creates profound changes in all areas from education, health, transportation to public services; thereby, aiming to develop e-government, digital economy, digital society, building a smart, modern and sustainable city.
In addition, Ho Chi Minh City also aims to become a high-tech industrial centre with four key industries (electronics manufacturing; pharmaceuticals, rubber, plastics; precision mechanics; food and beverage processing); five new high-tech industries (biotechnology; pharmaceuticals; automation-robotics; semiconductor industry; high-tech supporting industries), and six potential supporting service industries (medical tourism; finance, insurance, banking; e-commerce; healthcare and health care; transportation and logistics; educational technology).
Regarding information technology, by 2030, the city aims to become a centre of digital technology and information technology, in particular, focusing on developing the mobile game industry, developing software with high potential to promote the growth of the national digital economy; at the same time, developing software and high-end infrastructure services such as “Make in Vietnam” software and cybersecurity services, expanding to AI (artificial intelligence) platforms and software quality control tools for the international market...
In 2024, the city established three more centres: Ho Chi Minh City Digital Transformation Centre; Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution; Ho Chi Minh City Creative Startup Centre.
Cao Thi Phi Van, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Trade and Investment Promotion Centre
According to Cao Thi Phi Van, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Trade and Investment Promotion Centre, in 2024, the city established three more centres: Ho Chi Minh City Digital Transformation Centre; Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution; Ho Chi Minh City Creative Startup Centre.
In recent times, information technology has played an important role in the socio-economic development of Ho Chi Minh City. In 2024, the city achieved a number of impressive digital economic indicators when the rate of digital technology enterprises accounted for 12.88%, with more than 33,000 enterprises providing telecommunications and information technology services; the rate of enterprises with digital platforms reached 11.63% with more than 30,000 enterprises.
These figures show the strong development of the information technology sector, contributing to promoting digital transformation and improving economic efficiency in the city.
Attracting large technology corporations from India
In the context of the digital age, the city has identified information technology as not only a key economic sector but also a foundation to improve the quality of life of people, improve administrative management efficiency and promote sustainable development.
The city is focusing on investing in digital infrastructure, promoting digital transformation in all areas from education, healthcare, transportation to public services... towards the goal of building e-government, digital economy, digital society and smart cities.
India is famous as an information technology powerhouse, with many large technology companies and thousands of talented experts. Therefore, the city wants to cooperate with Indian businesses, from large corporations to innovative startups, to promote high-tech projects, especially in areas such as AI, Big Data, cloud computing, and software solutions for industries.
In addition, the locality is particularly interested in developing IT human resources through cooperation with Indian partners in organising training programmes.
Amitabh Ray, Chairman of the Indian Chamber of Commerce Technology, said: Viet Nam has prioritised smart city development since 2018 in major cities such as Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang, and Can Tho.
These cities are pioneering the construction of smart city frameworks and gradually transforming digital public services and urban management. The advent of AI, especially generative AI, is opening up countless opportunities to improve service accessibility and increase operational efficiency.
According to Amitabh Ray, the foundation of smart cities is technology. While India leads the global software market, Viet Nam is emerging as an important factor in the semiconductor industry, a core component of smart city solutions.
Thanks to its technology-oriented industrial development policy, Viet Nam is now the world’s sixth largest semiconductor exporter, accounting for 13% of the global assembly, testing and packaging industry.
This not only opens up opportunities for cooperation in smart cities but also helps Indian IT companies invest and import semiconductor equipment from Viet Nam.
The combination of India’s IT strengths and Viet Nam’s hardware capabilities can play an important role in smart city development, promoting economic growth, innovation and improving the quality of life.
