Lê Thị Bích Loan (left), deputy head of Saigon Hi-Tech Park’s management board, and Nguyễn Anh Thi, head of management board, speak at a press conference yesterday on the park’s 20th anniversary. VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY — The Saigon Hi-Tech Park (SHTP) in HCM City has attracted more than US$12 billion in domestic and foreign investment since its establishment 20 years ago, said the head of its management board.

Speaking at a press conference yesterday on the occasion of its 20th anniversary, Dr. Nguyễn Anh Thi said it included more than 50 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects worth more than $10.1 billion.

They include those by high-tech giants such as Intel and Jabil from the US, Nidec, Nipro, Nippon Telegraph, and Telephone (NTT) from Japan, Samsung from South Korea, and Datalogic from Italy.

It has given priority to investment in business incubation and training, high-technology manufacturing, hi-tech services, and smart factories, according to Thi.

The park will continue to assist investors to invest in the park by addressing slow administrative procedures, he said.

After 20 years of establishment, SHTP has formed a national high-tech centre for scientific and technological research and development in the city.

A fully State-owned park, the park is a key project in HCM City and is one of the three pillars of the Eastern Creative Urban Area in Thủ Đức city (in addition to the Thủ Thiêm Financial Centre and the National University of HCM City).

Over the past 20 years, the park has cooperated with educational institutions and businesses to improve the quality of human resources.

It has established an Intelligent Operation Centre (IOC) to provide necessary information for businesses investing in the park. 

The park has organised high-tech supporting industry development programmes to help local firms link up with lead firms through business matching activities, and build export processing zones and industrial parks across the country, he added.

20th anniversary ceremony

Lê Thị Bích Loan, deputy head of the management board, said a ceremony would be held on October 29 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the park.

A range of activities will be held, including an exhibition displaying photos and videos showing the process of the development of the park over the past 20 years.

Since the beginning of 2022, HCM City has organised a number of activities as part of the celebration.

Early this year, it started construction of a metro station area in the northern area of ​​the park (main entrance) to connect to the city’s first metro line (Bến Thành – Suối Tiên). 

The park has recently cooperated with a local hospital to provide free medical examinations, and presented gifts to 250 disadvantaged households who had donated land to make way for the construction of the park.

Last year, the park’s exports of high-tech products were worth $20.9 billion, or 52 per cent of the city’s total exports, and are expected to rise to $23 billion by the end of this year.

Founded in 2002, the 913ha park targets to become a world-class science and technology park by 2030.

It is home to a number of high-tech focused factories and facilities, including the Samsung Electronics HCMC CE Complex (SEHC), with $2 billion invested by Korean tech giant Samsung.

More than VNĐ10 trillion ($425.4 million) has been invested in developing the park, VNĐ1.98 trillion by the central Government and the rest by the city.

Another VNĐ4.5 trillion was invested by the private sector in telecom infrastructure, ready-built factories, logistics and warehouses, and others. — VNS