An aerial view of Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park, where Hanoi aims to build a national technology and innovation hub. (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi is stepping up efforts to turn the Hoa Lac Hi-tech Park on the city’s western edge into a national centre for technology and innovation, a strategic bid to build Vietnam’s own “Silicon Valley” and drive the next wave of socio-economic transformation.

The ambition reflects the city’s vision to nurture world-class research, high-tech manufacturing and a thriving startup ecosystem capable of powering long-term growth.

Vu Xuan Hung, Head of the Hanoi Hi-tech and Industrial Park Management Board, said that Hoa Lac had been positioned as a core science and technology hub under major national strategies, including the Politburo’s Resolutions 57 and 15 as well as the revised Law on the Capital.

Established in 1998 as Vietnam’s first high-tech park, Hoa Lac currently hosts 109 projects with a total registered capital of around 116 trillion VND (5 billion USD) from domestic and global tech companies such as Viettel, FPT, Vingroup, VNPT, Nidec and Hanwha Aerospace together with key institutions and universities such as the Vietnam-Korea Institute of Science and Technology (VKIST), the National Innovation Centre (NIC), the Vietnam Space Centre, and FPT University.

However, Hoa Lac has yet to reach its full potential, according to Hung. There are just around 80 laboratories while the social and technical infrastructure and transport connectivity remain insufficient to attract investors and talents.

The biggest difficulty is building a compatible ecosystem from research and development to production, while the linkage between universities, research institutes and businesses remains fragmented.

Drawing lessons from the US’ Silicon Valley, Chinese Taipei’s Hsinchu Science Park and China’s Zhongguancun, Bkav chief executive Nguyen Tu Quang said successful technology parks would require strong leadership, a world-class technical university, home-grown leading firms and a well-functioning venture capital system.

Quang said Hoa Lac lacked a close link with a large-scale technical university. The park also needed to enhance links with inner-city innovation areas in order to form a model smart city and create continuous urban innovation space.

Attracting talent and capital

Duong Kieu Oanh from FPT Software, which saw its workforce in Hoa Lac grow from 1,500 employees a decade ago to nearly 6,000 today, said that the park needed to improve infrastructure and policies to attract talent, including incentives for high-tech professionals and housing finance mechanisms.

She proposed that expenses in R&D be recognised as legitimate costs to create a framework that allows research teams to experiment and take risks. More importantly, it was necessary to have large-scale national-level challenge projects to attract top talents.

Hoa Lac has significant potential to become the core of the capital city’s digital transformation with an infrastructure system including a Uptime Tier III data centre and the readiness of cloud computing, AI, Big Data, IoT and Blockchain, according to Nguyen Duy Nhan, deputy director of VNPT Hanoi.

However, there are gaps in 4G and 5G coverage and a shortage of space for BTS installations and a lack of telecommunications infrastructure planning.

He urged faster deployment of shared telecom infrastructure and pilot regulatory sandboxes for 6G technologies in Hoa Lac together with the development of a smart management system for the entire park.

Experts said Hoa Lac needs strong incentives, including preferential corporate tax for technology firms, import tax exemptions for R&D equipment, long-term credit incentives, personal income tax incentives for R&D personnel and preferential housing policies for talent to better attract investment.

Strategic master plan

Truong Viet Dung, Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee said that a master plan for Hoa Lac Hi-tech Park development to 2030 with a vision to 2045 is being finalised.

Hanoi aims to build Hoa Lac into the country’s leading centre for innovation, research and development and high-tech manufacturing, according to Dung.

The plan will focus on developing strategic solutions to accelerate infrastructure development and improve transport connectivity with priorities such as ensuring the supply and quality of clean electricity, clean water, telecommunications, internet, and essential services.

But Hoa Lac will be selective in investment attraction, targeting core technologies while developing a robust innovation ecosystem and crafting breakthrough policies on income, housing, taxation, insurance and visas for experts together with incentives for R&D, data centres and pilot technology sandbox models.

Administrative reforms will also be enhanced with maximum decentralisation to ensure a transparent, convenient and efficient investment environment to attract talent.

“The aspiration to build Vietnam’s 'Silicon Valley' is being translated into concrete steps,” Dung said, urging businesses, universities, research institutions and intellectuals to join hands. The city pledged to create the most favourable conditions for every high-tech project in Hoa Lac.

“Hoa Lac is well positioned to rise to leading global models if institutions are opened up, infrastructure is improved, top talent is attracted and the innovation ecosystem is properly nurtured”, Dung said.

In 2026, Hanoi plans to allocate about 4% of its budget to science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation, higher than the national average of 3% and equivalent to 9.08 trillion VND (345 million USD).

Former Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Quan said the lack of a venture capital fund remained one of the biggest barriers to the startup ecosystem.

In that context, Hanoi’s move to pioneer a venture capital fund would send a positive signal, expected to enable Hoa Lac to nurture a complete innovation ecosystem, Quan said.