Participants share a photo session at the Việt Nam-Korea Extended Investment in central region forum in Đà Nẵng City. Korean businesses are urged to invest in central Việt Nam in ICT, IT and hi-tech industries. VNS Photo Công Thành

ĐÀ NẴNG — Central Việt Nam is seen as a favourable destination for information and communication technology (ICT) companies from Korea and Đà Nẵng City – a centre of universities training IT manpower and the Korea-Việt Nam IT University - is a key centre for Korean investors.

Head of the Consulate General of South Korea in Đà Nẵng, Kang Boosung said at the Việt Nam-Korea Extended Investment forum : " The bilateral relationship between Korea and Việt Nam has lots of potential over the next 30 years, with investment from Korean businesses expanding from traditional production to new industries in fields of hi-tech and ‘green’ energy.

“Leaders of our two countries have agreed to expand and enhance investment in terms of science and technology, information technology and communications, agriculture and energy.” 

Speaking at the regional digital global bridge – Việt Nam ICT Mission –  Boosung said the establishment of Việt Nam-Korea Institute of Science and Technology was seen as a crucial step in co-operation and promotion of IT projects and in speeding up digital transformation of the two countries.    

He said the forum would be an opportunity for ICT businesses from Korea to look to investing in central Việt Nam,  as well as strengthening the co-operation in ICT among Vietnamese and Korean enterprises.

According to Director of Đà Nẵng City’s information and communications, Trần Quang Thanh, South Korea remains the largest foreign investor and a key partner in the city’s digital transformation and innovation plan 2025-30 as well as across the central coastal region, particularly in terms of information and communication technology (ICT).

Thanh said South Korea had been listed as a top five-investor in Đà Nẵng, with 279 projects worth US$382 million.

“We have developed three national centralised IT zones and software parks, creating smooth infrastructure for investment in ICT in the coming years. Đà Nẵng has been revving up the digitalisation in the process of building it as the first ‘smart’ city in Việt Nam,” Thanh said.

He added the city’s ICT sector was seen as a key industry marker, with revenues of US$1 billion, of which $150 million comes from software exports and is growing at an annual rate of 12 per cent a year.

Đà Nẵng has been calling for investment from South Korea in ICT and hi-tech industries, semiconductor and AI, on the way to making the city a destination of global and regional innovation.

South Korea’s LG Electronics started building its R&D centre – the second in Việt Nam – in Đà Nẵng as a commitment of further co-operation in ICT between Korea and the city.

Samsung established the Samsung Innovation Campus (SIC) at the city’s Duy Tân Private University and is supporting two businesses – Trung Nam Group and Tân Long Paper and Package Company – in building the first smart factories in the city.

Over the past years, Korea has helped the city build the Việt Nam-Korea Friendship Information Technology College with Official Development Aid in 2007 and an upgraded project in training IT human resources for the university.

The university has just begun training the first 500 semiconductor and chip design engineers, who are due to graduate in 2027.

Lê Minh Dương, from the FDI agency, under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, said investors would benefit from the government’s special preferential mechanisms in terms of land rent depending on investment scale, corporate income tax.

An engineer inspects electronic products at a factory in the Đà Nẵng Hi-Tech Park. The central city has called for investment from Korea, the US, Taiwan, Japan and Singapore in hi-tech industries, IT and ICT. Photo courtesy of Quang Huy

He said 29,000 projects in ICT, worth $5.1 billion, with Korean money, had registered so far.

Đà Nẵng was included in the top 10 provinces and cities with ICT revenue of more than $1 billion in Việt Nam, according to a report from the Ministry of Information and Communications.

The Việt Nam Innovation Network in Korea (VINK) also introduced the Đà Nẵng-Seoul Start-up Innovation Centre and the Việt Nam-Korea AI (VKAI) Hub in Đà Nẵng City last year.

Partners from Đà Nẵng and Korea also inked five deals on co-operation and development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology in medical, healthcare and on moves to transforming the central city into a smart city.

The opening of the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Đà Nẵng, and the debut of the office of South Korea Trade and Investment Agency are also expected to boost investment and trade between Korea and central Việt Nam.

About 250 Korean businesses are operating in Thừa Thiên Huế, Đà Nẵng, Quảng Nam, and Quảng Ngãi, while more investors from Korea are looking at the region, according to the South Korean Consulate General. VNS