The administration centre of the Đà Nẵng High-Tech Park. — VNP Photos Thanh Hòa

HÀ NỘI — The central city of Đà Nẵng is rolling out a series of policies to strengthen its position as one of the country's leading innovation and technology hubs.

Adopted by the Politburo in late 2024, Resolution No 57-NQ/TW identifies science and technology, innovation and digital transformation as strategic drivers of the country's next phase of economic development.

The resolution calls for institutional reforms, stronger investment in research and development, the development of digital infrastructure and greater support for high-tech industries and innovation ecosystems to improve national competitiveness.

The city has already emerged as one of Việt Nam's fastest-growing innovation hubs. StartupBlink's 2024 Global Startup Ecosystem Index ranked Đà Nẵng among the world's top 1,000 start-up ecosystems after it climbed 342 places in just two years.

Reflecting those priorities, Đà Nẵng has introduced tax incentives for innovative enterprises and individuals while launching pilot projects to develop a municipal data exchange platform and a digital twin system, combining financial support with digital infrastructure development.

The Đà Nẵng People's Council recently adopted Resolution No 24/2026/NQ-HĐND to promote the city's start-up and innovation ecosystem, attract high-tech enterprises and encourage investment in industries with high added value.

Under the resolution, eligible start-ups and innovation support organisations will receive a five-year corporate income tax exemption under Resolution No 136/2024/QH15 after being certified by the municipal Department of Science and Technology.

The incentives apply to companies commercialising products and services based on intellectual property, including patents, software, mobile applications, cloud computing technologies and semiconductor integrated circuit designs, as well as enterprises bringing research outcomes and award-winning innovation projects to market.

Organisations providing incubation, acceleration, advisory services, infrastructure, intellectual property protection and commercialisation support will also qualify for the same incentives.

The city has also extended tax exemptions to founders, co-founders and individuals directly engaged in innovative start-up activities for five years, aiming to encourage researchers, entrepreneurs and young innovators to transform new ideas into commercial products.

The measures place particular emphasis on semiconductors and artificial intelligence (AI), sectors identified as national priorities under Resolution 57.

Tax incentives cover the entire semiconductor value chain, from chip design and manufacturing to packaging and testing, while AI-related activities, including computing infrastructure, data processing, model training, testing and generative AI development, are also eligible. 

A view of Đà Nẵng, one of Việt Nam's fastest-growing innovation hubs, along the Hàn River.

Alongside fiscal incentives, Đà Nẵng is investing in digital infrastructure to support the growth of the digital economy.

On June 22, the municipal People's Committee approved a pilot data exchange platform for the 2026–28 period under Decision No 2710/QĐ-UBND.

The project aims to establish a secure and transparent environment for sharing, accessing and testing data transactions in accordance with Vietnamese law, while supporting innovation, digital businesses and public-sector governance.

During the pilot phase, the city will develop technical standards and procedures for collecting, verifying, classifying, valuing and using data.

Businesses will be selected to participate as data providers, users or platform operators, while the system will be integrated with existing digital platforms and public databases.

Authorities said the platform will incorporate safeguards for personal data protection and cybersecurity and could eventually be linked to the future national data exchange.

The city has also approved a pilot Digital Twin project for the same period under Decision No 2711/QĐ-UBND. The initiative will create virtual models of selected districts and priority sectors by integrating spatial and sector-specific data into interactive digital platforms.

Developed in line with guidance from the Ministry of Science and Technology, the platform will gradually integrate AI, geographic information systems (GIS), the Internet of Things (IoT) and data analytics to support data-driven urban management while complying with regulations on cybersecurity, personal data protection and state secrets.

The initiatives also support Đà Nẵng's longer-term digital economy strategy, which targets VNĐ73.4 trillion (US$2.8 billion) in digital economy revenue, 4,200 businesses in key digital industries and 70,000 skilled jobs by 2045.

Under the master plan, the city has also committed to allocating at least 15 per cent of its budget expenditure to digital industry development while supporting the growth of globally competitive technology products and companies. — VNS