HCM CITY — HCM City is stepping up efforts to develop digital technology infrastructure and hyperscale data centres as part of its long-term strategy to build a smart city and establish an international financial centre.

The push aims to foster strategic partnerships between city authorities and domestic and international enterprises, technology groups and leading financial institutions, while meeting rising demand for high-performance data processing and computing capacity in the country’s largest economic hub.

The city has made notable progress in digital infrastructure in recent years, Lâm Đình Thắng, director of the municipal Department of Science and Technology, said at an investment conference on digital infrastructure and large-scale data centres on February 8.

However, as a megacity with a large population and complex socio-economic challenges, the city faces rising demand for advanced data-processing capabilities.

Its ambition to develop an international financial centre, alongside the rapid expansion of fintech and artificial intelligence, requires hyperscale data centres to function as a “digital brain”.

These facilities will integrate multi-sector data, support decision-making through real-time analysis and simulation, optimise resource allocation, and improve residents’ quality of life.

For the 2026-30 period, the city has identified digital infrastructure as a strategic pillar on a par with transport and energy, forming the backbone of its modernisation drive. It has set a target of entering the world’s top 50 smart cities, while committing to an investment environment that meets global technical standards.

Under this roadmap, infrastructure systems ranging from energy and transport to public services will become increasingly digitalised and intelligent, helping to reduce operational costs for businesses and improve urban governance efficiency.

To achieve these goals, the city is rolling out major projects involving AI-driven data centres and hyperscale data centre complexes with capacity exceeding 100 MW, designed to meet advanced data-processing needs for international financial markets.

The municipal government has pledged to ensure land availability, a stable supply of clean energy that meets green standards, and a package of incentives to attract investors in digital technologies and advanced manufacturing.

At the same time, the city is restructuring and planning 12 concentrated digital technology zones, developing a science and technology urban area in the northern part of the city**,** and expanding the Saigon Hi-Tech Park.

These initiatives aim to strengthen the innovation ecosystem by bringing together enterprises, research institutes and universities to promote digital technology development.

Alongside infrastructure investment, HCM City is prioritising high-quality human resource development and proactively piloting policy sandbox models for strategic technologies such as unmanned aerial vehicles and autonomous vehicles.

Start-ups are supported through tax incentives, venture capital funds and mechanisms to commercialise research outcomes.

According to Phạm Tuấn Anh, head of technology at the International Financial Centre, technology infrastructure is a decisive pillar for the centre’s success.

The centre will invest heavily in modern digital platforms to create a “financial transit hub”, facilitating capital flows not only into Việt Nam but also across global markets.

Several strategic agreements were signed at the conference, marking a further step in the development of the city’s digital infrastructure.

Notably, G42 and a consortium of domestic investors signed a long-term framework agreement to develop large-scale data centre infrastructure in Việt Nam with a total investment of US$2 billion.

Meanwhile, the Department of Science and Technology and fund management company VinaCapital, representing an investor alliance comprising FPT, VinaCapital and Việt Thái, signed a memorandum of understanding for the development of large-scale data centres linked to an innovation and technology complex in HCM City.

The Saigon Hi-Tech Park also signed a project development agreement with VinaCapital to promote data infrastructure projects and green energy solutions to support the sustainable operation of next-generation data centres.

In addition, the International Financial Centre signed a deal with VinaCapital and the Global On-Chain Economic Alliance to research, develop and operate the HCMC Digital Asset Fund, envisioned as market-forming capital to contribute to the development of a regional on-chain hub.

The phased capital mobilisation roadmap targets a total scale of $1 billion.

These agreements underscore the commitment of strategic investors to building modern digital infrastructure to international standards in the city.

Large-scale investment in data centres and digital technology is expected to enhance data security, strengthen information-processing capacity, drive innovation and improve urban governance, laying a solid foundation for the city’s ambition to become a smart metropolis and a competitive international financial centre. — VNS