The plan was outlined at the "Industry 4.0 and Smart Supply Chains, New Drivers for Ho Chi Minh City" forum on June 17.
Nguyen Trung Tin, deputy head of the Ho Chi Minh City Export Processing and Industrial Zones Authority (HEPZA), said the city's industrial and export processing zones are undergoing a comprehensive overhaul to move beyond their traditional development model.
Ho Chi Minh City currently has 17 established industrial parks covering 3,733 hectares. The restructuring programme will apply to more than 3,800 hectares of industrial land.
The parks have an occupancy rate of around 80 per cent and host approximately 5,300 investment projects with combined registered capital of nearly USD 80 billion. They currently employ about 920,000 workers.
According to Tin, maintaining the existing model is no longer sustainable. The city has identified artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data and automation as key technologies for developing smart industrial parks that can improve productivity, optimise supply chains and strengthen resilience against market fluctuations.
The core objective is to transform existing industrial parks into ecological, intelligent and multi-functional zones as part of the city's broader growth strategy.
Nguyen Thanh Trung, deputy director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Finance, said the city is targeting economic growth of 10 per cent in 2026, a challenging goal given the need to sustain an economy worth more than VND 3 quadrillion (approximately USD 115.4 billion) while undertaking a comprehensive restructuring driven by science, technology, innovation and smart logistics.
Nguyen Thanh Trung, deputy director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Finance, speaks at the forum on June 17 (Photo: organisers).
He noted that the traditional industrial development model faces growing constraints, including limited land availability, rising competition and increasing production costs.
Trung said authorities would support investors throughout the process, from policy guidance to project implementation, adding that the success of the restructuring programme would play a decisive role in establishing Ho Chi Minh City as a regional hub for smart manufacturing and advanced logistics.
To support the transformation, the city plans major investments in transport infrastructure, including Ring Road 3, Ring Road 4, the Bien Hoa–Vung Tau Expressway, metro lines, Long Thanh International Airport and Can Gio International Port. These projects are expected to create more efficient and cost-effective supply chains for businesses.
Under support policies, enterprises will receive at least a 30 per cent reduction in land rental fees in 2024 and a 2 per cent interest-rate subsidy for green projects.
Through the Ho Chi Minh City Finance and Investment State-owned Company (HFIC), selected sectors may also qualify for interest support of up to 100 per cent on large, long-term loans.
Alongside financial incentives, the city is accelerating investment in digital infrastructure, focusing on digital governance platforms and information-sharing networks connecting enterprises across export processing zones and industrial parks during the 2024-2030 period.
