HCMC – In the next phase of its development, HCMC is prioritizing efforts to attract investment from South Korean businesses in four strategic sectors, including developing an international financial center, building AI and semiconductor ecosystems, expanding the startup and venture capital ecosystem, and advancing smart urban and green growth projects.
The push to attract high-tech and venture capital investment reflects growing demand among businesses in the city to strengthen ties with South Korean partners. The goal is to help local firms integrate more deeply into global supply chains, accelerate technology transfer and digital transformation, and transition more rapidly toward greener production models.
The information was shared at HCMC–South Korea investment cooperation and business networking forum held on May 20 by the HCMC Investment and Trade Promotion Center in coordination with the ASEAN-Korea Center.
At the forum, experts said economic cooperation between the two sides is shifting from the traditional model of processing and export manufacturing toward developing and mastering future technologies.
Leaders of the two countries have set a target of raising bilateral trade turnover to US$150 billion by 2030 through deeper integration into value chains and stronger growth in knowledge-intensive products.
To address the challenge of increasing local value creation, representatives of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency noted that Vietnam’s manufacturing sector currently generates only 12% of domestic value added, significantly lower than the ASEAN regional average of 33%.
However, they said the gap also presents substantial opportunities for Vietnamese supporting industries to cooperate with South Korean conglomerates and specialize by economic region, with northern Vietnam focusing on high technology and automobiles, while southern Vietnam strengthens textiles, footwear, and food processing industries.
Meanwhile, the Korea Importers Association recommended that Vietnamese companies actively participate in major trade exhibitions such as Korea Import Expo to stay updated on evolving import standards and expand exports of competitive sectors including electronics, information technology, and processed agricultural and seafood products.
To date, HCMC has attracted 20,813 foreign direct investment projects with total registered capital exceeding US$142 billion from 152 countries and territories.
South Korean investors remain among the city’s key strategic partners, ranking second by number of projects with 3,349 investments, concentrated mainly in manufacturing and processing, technology, logistics, and trade and services.
