Investors are now looking beyond location and increasingly prioritizing infrastructure quality, developers’ capabilities and their ability to meet stringent operating standards.

Registered FDI in Vietnam, including new registrations, adjustments and capital contributions or share purchases, reached $50.36 billion in the first nine months of the year, up 76.4% year-on-year, according to the National Statistics Office. Disbursed FDI rose 12.1% to $21.07 billion, the highest level for the same period in five years.

Newly registered capital totaled $29.24 billion across 3,108 newly licensed projects, with the number of projects up 6.2% from a year earlier and capital 2.4 times higher. Manufacturing and processing led new FDI commitments with $13.38 billion, or 45.8% of the total.

ACB Securities (ACBS) said the industrial property sector is supported by policies to attract FDI, Vietnam’s geopolitical advantages, production costs and international trade cooperation. It also warned that trade, geopolitical and global economic uncertainties could delay tenants’ investment expansion plans.

Cushman & Wakefield’s Waypoint 2026 report said Vietnam is strengthening its position as a strategic link in global supply chains, driven by the entry and expansion of electronics and high-tech manufacturers.

FDI surges as industrial property stocks diverge

The strong FDI picture has yet to translate uniformly into stock performance. Shares of industrial property developers diverged sharply in the third quarter of 2026.

BCM of Becamex posted the biggest decline, falling 24.8% to VND39,700 ($1.53) a share from VND52,800. SZC of Sonadezi Chau Duc fell 19.8%, KBC of Kinhbac City 14.8%, IDC of Idico about 7.3%, and PHR of Phuoc Hoa Rubber 2.6%. GVR of Vietnam Rubber Group was little changed, while VGC of Viglacera gained about 9%.

First-half earnings also diverged. BCM reported more than VND307 billion ($11.82 million) in after-tax profit, down 83.4% from a year earlier, while KBC posted about VND260 billion, down 79.2%.

VGC reported more than VND1.15 trillion ($44.38 million) in after-tax profit, up 38%, while IDC posted more than VND1 trillion, up 20%. Rubber companies GVR and PHR reported nearly VND4.95 trillion ($190.42 million) and VND655 billion ($25.21 million), respectively, supported mainly by rubber prices and land-related income.

MBBank Securities (MBS) expects the divergence to continue in the third quarter. It forecasts BCM’s net profit at VND1.82 trillion ($69.94 million), up 337% from a year earlier; VGC’s at VND168 billion ($6.47 million), up 83%; and KBC’s at VND528 billion ($20.33 million), up 72%. IDC’s profit is forecast to fall 49% to VND428 billion, while SZC’s is expected to drop 33% to VND14 billion ($538,950).

According to the broker, the differences depend largely on land handover schedules and company-specific business activity. Across the companies under its coverage, the broker expects third-quarter net profit to rise 52% from a year earlier.

Funding costs are another pressure point. Le Duc Khanh, director of analysis at VPS Securities, said industrial property continues to benefit from FDI and the conversion of rubber land, but the broader real estate sector is facing pressure from high short-term borrowing costs.

At KBC, debt repayment pressure is increasing as borrowings rise amid high interest rates, while key projects including Trang Cat and Trump Complex have yet to generate cash flow.

Beyond funding and land handovers, however, a longer-term shift is creating a new challenge for industrial park developers: technology tenants are changing how they choose locations.

Power emerges as a key requirement

Cushman & Wakefield said energy and technology requirements are increasingly shaping tenants’ technical specifications and location strategies. In Vietnam, investors are placing greater emphasis on infrastructure quality, developer capabilities and the ability to meet stringent operating standards, rather than location alone.

David Jackson, CEO of Avison Young Vietnam and Cambodia, said international and domestic investors are no longer simply looking for land, but for locations where technology projects can operate efficiently at scale.

Labor availability, reliable power, connectivity and expansion capacity are consequently becoming as important as the land itself.

Power is particularly critical. Data centers and high-tech manufacturers need not only sufficient capacity when operations begin, but also the ability to increase supply as projects expand.

A semiconductor project may require electricity equivalent to or close to that of an entire industrial park despite having a significantly smaller footprint. Developers therefore need to factor power demand into planning from the outset, engage early with power providers and local authorities, and establish a phased roadmap for increasing capacity.

The requirements are even more stringent for data centers, where operations cannot be interrupted, creating demand for backup power and storage systems. Avison Young cited a partnership between BIM Energy and Evolution Data Centres to supply renewable energy to a data center in Ho Chi Minh City under a direct power purchase agreement (DPPA), highlighting the growing link between capital, energy, land, infrastructure and technology.

Some listed companies have already begun responding to the trend. MBS said BCM and Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park J.V. Co., Ltd. (VSIP) are expanding their land banks with a focus on green and sustainable industrial parks.

KBC has nearly 170 hectares covered by memorandums of understanding with companies including LG and Luxshare and is pursuing partnerships to develop data center projects. IDC is attracting projects in manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and data centers.

FDI remains a favorable foundation, but large land reserves are increasingly becoming a necessary condition rather than a sufficient advantage. As investment shifts deeper into electronics, semiconductors, AI and data centers, competition among industrial park developers may increasingly hinge on reliable power, infrastructure quality, project execution, and the capacity to accommodate tenant expansion.