Can you highlight the key investment attractions of Da Nang HTP, IT Park, and IZs in 2024?

Between January 1 and December 10, 2024, Da Nang HTP, Da Nang IT Park and Da Nang IZs attracted a total of US$178.5 million and VND1,160.8 billion (approximately US$49 million) in investment. As of December 10, 2024, these zones housed 521 projects, including 396 domestic projects with a total capital of VND33,956.99 billion (US$1.44 billion) and 125 FDI projects with a combined investment of US$2.22 billion.

Mr. Nguyen Cong Tien, Deputy Director of the Da Nang High-Tech Park and Industrial Zones Authority at the working session with 
Mr. Travis Mitchell, Executive Director at the American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam

The Da Nang High-Tech Park and Industrial Zones Authority has actively promoted, supported, and facilitated many domestic and foreign investment projects from leading corporations, including the VMR CNC mold manufacturing factory by Viedam Joint Venture Company Limited, the IDC Da Nang Data Center by Da Nang International Data Center Joint Stock Company, and many semiconductor and microchip manufacturing projects.

Notably, in 2024, the authority granted investment licenses to US$117-million VINA III ICT manufacturing factory project of Dentium Co., Ltd (South Korea). This is also the third project invested by Dentium Co., Ltd in Da Nang Hi-Tech Park, raising its total registered investment fund of all three projects to US$257 million.

What unique advantages make Da Nang Hi-Tech Park a trusted investment destination?

First of all, Da Nang's investment and business environment is very open, transparent and favorable for investors. Its geographical location makes it easy to access markets in the region and around the world, and conveniently connects the city with major economic centers in the world such as Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia. Da Nang City is also an important traffic hub of the country thanks to its very convenient transportation system comprised of roads, airways, seaways, and railways.

To establish Da Nang HTP as one of the three key pillars of the city’s development by 2030, with a vision to 2045, the municipal government is committed to mobilizing all available resources. The goal is to transform the park into a world-class, highly competitive hub for innovation, science, and technology, fostering a dynamic urban area that drives sustainable growth. By 2030, Da Nang HTP will be developed in sync with Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park and Saigon Hi-Tech Park to become a development nucleus of the Central and Central Highlands regions. From this approach, the Da Nang HTP boasts a state-of-the-art infrastructure system built to international standards, designed to meet the diverse needs of investors. Notably, investors benefit from preferential policies under Decree 04/ND-CP, which includes exemptions and reductions in land rent, corporate income tax, and import/export duties. Additionally, tax exemptions are provided for imported goods used to establish fixed assets for licensed projects within the park.

Another key advantage is the streamlined administrative process, with all procedures handled through a single-window mechanism at the Da Nang High-Tech Park and Industrial Zones Authority. Detailed instructions are publicly available to help applicants minimize processing time. Additionally, the authority actively engages with businesses through various channels, including websites, regular public receptions, and business meetings, ensuring prompt responses and timely solutions to feedback and recommendations.

How have the city government and Da Nang High-Tech Park Authority addressed sustainable development and high-quality investment through eco-friendly industrial parks and resource efficiency?

In August 2022, Da Nang City announced the circular economic development roadmap and defined seven key areas for priority development, including circular food, circular water, green consumer citizens, solid waste management, raw materials, energy, and ecological industrial parks.

Currently, the circular economy has become a mainstream trend of countries, especially when the world's resources are increasingly depleted. In response to that trend, building an ecological industrial park model is an important task to enable Da Nang City to move toward the goal of becoming an environmentally friendly city, sharpen competitiveness, attract domestic and foreign investors, and advance global integration and development trends.

Along with the circular economic development roadmap, the Da Nang Master Plan for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050, also announced the goal of building Da Nang into an ecological, modern and smart city. To achieve this goal, one of the tasks that the city chose is to green industrial parks, aiming to develop each industrial park into an ecological area and build a circular economy towards the Net Zero target. At the same time, according to the “Building Da Nang - an environmentally friendly city” Project for the 2021-2030 period, Da Nang aims to have at least one industrial park that meets national ecological industrial park standards by 2025 and 2-3 eco-industrial parks by 2030.

In the coming time, the Da Nang High-Tech Park and Industrial Zones Authority will study eco-industrial park development policies in some countries in the region (such as Japan and South Korea) to advise the Municipal People's Committee to introduce business support policies to improve management and operation processes, upgrade production technologies to reduce polluting sources, adopt industrial symbiosis and transform into eco-industrial parks. At the same time, we plan to develop an information portal focused on the efficient use of resources and cleaner production practices. We will also publish data on recyclable waste within businesses to promote industrial symbiosis. Efforts will be made to enhance waste discharge monitoring, encouraging companies to install environmental monitoring systems and publicly share relevant data. We will also promote training on energy and waste audits, alongside raising awareness of new regulations related to environmental protection. For the three new industrial parks, we are carrying out investor selection procedures. When preparing procedures, we will incorporate some requirements on infrastructure and zoning planning and develop new eco-industrial parks.

Could you please tell us about the future investment promotion and attraction direction for the city’s high-tech park, IT park and industrial parks?

The Da Nang High-Tech Park and Industrial Zones Authority will continue to develop and issue innovative, active and focused investment promotion programs, and prioritize strategic markets for key sectors. We will focus on researching and assessing market potential, trends and investment partners; build images, promote, advertise and introduce the investment environment and investment incentive policies in the city’s high-tech park, IT park, and industrial parks. At the same time, we will support and guide local investments, provide training and coaching to enhance investment promotion capabilities, and foster both domestic and international cooperation in investment promotion.

Do you have any message to send to investors, especially FDI investors?

Da Nang City is seeing great opportunities in investment attraction. In addition to policies on strategic investors (Article 12, Resolution No. 136/2024/QH15), the National Assembly allows the formation of Da Nang Free Trade Zone linked with Lien Chieu Port, the first free trade zone model in Vietnam: “Da Nang Free Trade Zone has functional areas specified in the Prime Minister's decision on establishment of Da Nang Free Trade Zone, including production areas, logistics centers, trade-service areas and other types of functional areas according to the law. Functional areas of Da Nang Free Trade Zone are separated from the outside area with hard fences to ensure the inspection, supervision and customs control activities of customs agencies and other authorities. The relationship of buying, selling and exchanging goods between the functional areas of Da Nang Free Trade Zone and outside areas is the export and import relationship as stipulated in the laws on customs, taxes and export and import, etc.” (Article 13, Resolution 136/2024/QH15 dated June 26, 2024)

Currently, Da Nang City is actively implementing the contents in Resolution 136/2024/QH15 of the National Assembly dated June 26, 2024 on organization of urban government and piloting some specific mechanisms and policies on Da Nang development. In addition to researching and developing a project on supplementation of State management powers, functions and tasks of the Da Nang High-Tech Park and Industrial Zones Authority (submitted to the Ministry of Home Affairs for consideration and submitted to the Prime Minister for approval), the city is completing the project on establishment of Da Nang Free Trade Zone and consulting with relevant agencies on this matter, with a focus placed on following important contents: Planning location, expected manufacturing industries, technical infrastructure, security - external affairs, and especially policies on tax, customs, security and order. The project is scheduled to be submitted to the Prime Minister for consideration by the end of 2024.

Moreover, in Law 57/2024/QH15 on amendments and supplements to some articles of the Law on Planning, the Law on Investment, the Law on Public-Private Partnership Investment and the Law on Bidding, in which regulations on special investment procedures are added. Specifically, special investment procedures will be applied to semiconductor and high-tech investment projects in industrial parks, export processing zones, high-tech parks, economic zones and free trade zones in the direction of shifting from “pre-inspection” to “post-inspection.” Accordingly, it takes only 15 days for investors to carry out investment registration procedures to obtain investment licenses and they do not have to fulfil procedures regarding construction, fire prevention and environmental protection. Special investment procedures are a new breakthrough regulation to reduce the time of project implementation, create favorable and competitive mechanisms and attract strategic investors. The new regulations on special investment procedures are expected to invigorate investment attraction in Vietnam, including Da Nang, particularly in emerging sectors like semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and high-tech industries.

On this journey, the Da Nang High-Tech Park and Industrial Zones Authority is dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs and the business community. This commitment is part of the broader goal to foster the development of Da Nang as the region's premier destination for living, visiting, and investing.

Thank you so much!