On May 22, the Ho Chi Minh City Trade and Investment Promotion Center (ITPC), in collaboration with the Vietnam International Arbitration Center (VIAC) and the Ho Chi Minh Branch of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI-HCM), convened the conference titled “Investment Opportunities in Ho Chi Minh City in the New Context: An Overview and Legal Recommendations”.
During the event, numerous experts and investors assessed that Ho Chi Minh City is currently positioned at a ‘golden opportunity’ to achieve breakthroughs in growth during this new phase.
Attracting high-quality investment flows
Addressing the conference, Dr. Tran Du Lich, Vice Chairman of VIAC, remarked that Ho Chi Minh City is entering a pivotal development stage, capitalizing on advantages in logistics, seaports, finance, commerce, and innovation, creating ample space for substantial growth. The city is implementing a series of strategic initiatives, including perfecting special mechanisms for the digital economy, artificial intelligence (AI), and becoming an international financial hub; developing logistics infrastructure, ports, urban railways, and regional connectivity; establishing a creative investment fund and a venture capital fund, with state capital serving as 'seed money' to attract social resources.
Simultaneously, the city is promoting FDI in high-tech sectors such as research and development (R&D), AI, semiconductors, biotechnology, and innovation. Efforts are also being made to develop a high-quality workforce, accelerate green transformation, digital transformation, and a circular economy. These orientations open substantial opportunities for attracting high-caliber domestic and foreign investments. In fact, FDI inflows into Ho Chi Minh City are already showing clear signs of acceleration.
Ho Chi Minh City continues to maintain significant advantages in market size, enterprise ecosystem, international connectivity, and innovation. The current key issue is not merely expanding investment volume but enhancing the quality of capital flows, fostering links between FDI enterprises and domestic firms, and creating more space for growth in high-tech industries and green economies. This indicates a shift from a ‘capital attraction’ mindset to ‘investment ecosystem creation,’ aiming to retain R&D centers, investment funds, and long-term technology enterprises,” emphasized Ms. Cao Thi Phi Van, Deputy Director of ITPC.
Enhancing the credibility of the investment environment
Alongside expanding development space, many experts believe that Ho Chi Minh City’s competitive advantage now lies less in cost or market scale and more in the quality of governance and the ability to establish a stable, transparent investment environment.
According to Mr. Tran Ngoc Liem, Director of VCCI-HCM, in an increasingly competitive investment landscape, investors now prioritize policy stability, legal predictability, and compliance costs over incentives.
Regarding this matter, Dr. Phan Hoai Nam, a legal expert, suggested that the new tax policy system should continue to evolve to support enterprises while enhancing transparency and management efficiency amid the rapid growth of digital economy and cross-border transactions. Notably, recent regulations are broadening deductible expenses for R&D, market research, new product development, and innovation, encouraging long-term investment. Companies are advised to proactively review operational models, update policies, and improve governance capacity to mitigate legal and financial risks during their investment activities.
From the perspective of foreign enterprises, lawyer Michael K. Lee of DILINH Legal pointed out that many current investment disputes stem from poorly drafted contracts and inadequate risk management mechanisms. Therefore, enterprises should conduct multi-layer legal due diligence, stay informed of policy updates, and establish comprehensive risk management frameworks throughout the project lifecycle to maximize investment opportunities in Ho Chi Minh City.
In the first four months of 2026, the city attracted nearly US$3.3 billion in FDI, representing an increase of approximately 127.1 percent compared to the same period last year. This is seen as a noteworthy signal amid Ho Chi Minh City’s ongoing restructuring of its growth model and expanding its development scope into high-tech, international finance, logistics, and innovation sectors.
