Ho Chi Minh City's preferential policies for the supporting industries in recent years has helped companies expand and secure contracts as suppliers with foreign-invested companies.

Nguyen Truong Bao, General Director of the Hiep Phuoc Industrial Park in Nha Be district, said that many support enterprises have begun new projects in the park.

In March, the Le Tran Joint Stock Company started construction of a new factory to produce ceiling and wall frames, and Schindler Vietnam Co Ltd signed a land lease contract for 10,000sq.m to build a elevator frames manufacturing factory.

Nguyen Phuong Dong, Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Industry and Trade, said the city has provided capital and technologies to support companies, and helped them look for partners and markets.

The city has also issued a resolution on an investment stimulus programme for the supporting industries in the 2018-2020 period.

Supporting businesses can receive a loan of up to 200 billion VND (8.5 million USD) per project to invest in factories and new technologies.

Thanks to the investment stimulus programme, many enterprises have become level 1 and level 2 suppliers for foreign direct invested (FDI) manufacturers of electronic and automobiles.

The city has also helped enterprises connect with foreign enterprises so they can become more competitive and participate in global supply chains.

At the “Conference to Find Suppliers for FDI Enterprises in High-Tech Parks”, 20 qualified support enterprises were chosen to become suppliers for Samsung, Nidec and Sonion.

The city's training and consulting programme on productivity and quality has also helped businesses change their production process and business management.

The city will continue to help businesses use new management systems to meet the requirements of global production chains.

It will also offer training to improve the quality of human resources and create an online database of support industry enterprises in the city.

To meet demand, three support industry zones are expected to open by 2025 in the city.

By August 2018, HCM City had 1,200 businesses involved in the supporting industries.