The forum saw the participation of representatives from departments and agencies of central provinces, including Thua Thien-Hue, Quang Ngai and Quang Nam and Da Nang city together with 40 Korean ICT companies.

Aiming to prepare and create opportunities for Korean ICT companies to invest in the central region of Vietnam, as well as promoting cooperation between ICT businesses of the two countries, participants exchanged information on ICT investment environment, preferential policies of localities, their ICT infrastructure.

Speaking at the forum, director of the central region’s investment promotion centre Le Minh Duong said that central localities including Da Nang, Quang Nam, Thua Thien-Hue and Binh Dinh now have technology centres that have attracted foreign and domestic investors.

The RoK and Singapore are the two countries that have largest investments in the region, he said.

To attract ICT investors, the localities have offered incentives in terms of corporate tax, import-export tax, land use fees and land lease, he said.

Director of Da Nang’s Department of Information and Communications Nguyen Quang Thanh said that for year, information technology (IT) has been identified as one of five key economic sectors and priorities in the development of the city towards 2030, with a vision to 2045.

Last year, the city’s IT revenue reached 36.57 trillion VND (1.43 billion USD), marking a year-over-year increase of 8.1%. Its software export turnover reached 147.8 million USD, up 12% compared to 2022.

The digital economy made up 20% of the city's GRDP. Da Nang currently has 2.3 digital technology businesses for every 1,000 people, ranked 2nd in Vietnam after Ho Chi Minh City, and three times higher than the national average, he added.