HCMC emerges as publishing powerhouse
Ho Chi Minh City is currently home to the country's highest concentration of publishing and distribution units. Beside two municipal publishing houses, Tre Publishing House and Ho Chi Minh City General Publishing House, there are four university publishing houses under universities and member universities, including Ho Chi Minh City National University, Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry, and University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City; four representative offices of foreign publishers, alongside 17 branches and representative offices of central and local publishers.
Parallel with the stream of traditional books at publishing houses, characteristic reading culture spaces in Ho Chi Minh City have also recorded remarkably positive results. In the first six months of 2026, revenue at Ho Chi Minh City Book Street reached more than VND32 billion representing a 2.91 percent increase relative to the corresponding period in 2025.
Notably, the Lunar New Year Book Street Festival during the Year of the Fire Horse 2026 attracted large numbers of residents and tourists in just eight days of organization, bringing in revenue of over VND8.2 billion. These figures serve as vivid evidence of the cultural enjoyment demands as well as the love for books among city residents.
Along with publishing activities, the distribution network across Ho Chi Minh City has developed extensively. Ho Chi Minh City currently has 226 book distribution units, nearly 1,000 private bookstores and book centers, about 2,800 business households, and more than 1,000 enterprises operating in printing and manufacturing.
Among them, Ho Chi Minh City Book Distribution Joint Stock Company (Fahasa) is considered the country's largest distributor with a system of 150 bookstores across 26 out of 34 provinces and cities. Fahasa's annual revenue consistently accounts for more than 70 percent to 80 percent of the total revenue of the nation's entire distribution sector.
Assessing development opportunities for the publishing and distribution industry, Chairman Pham Minh Thuan of the Board of Directors of Fahasa noted that in developed nations such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, or France, publishing is always positioned as a key economic sector with a scale of billions of US dollar. Thanks to this, their publishing products not only dominate domestic markets but also exert strong ripple effects globally.
However, to realize major goals, the domestic publishing industry faces numerous difficulties, such as requiring large investment resources and specific support policies, Chairman Pham Minh Thuan said.
Ho Chi Minh City targets regional publishing leadership by 2030
Ho Chi Minh City's publishing and distribution sector is standing before a major opportunity thanks to strong support from a system of mechanisms and policies, highlighted by Directive No. 16-CT/TU of the Standing Committee of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee, issued on June 9, 2026, on strengthening Party leadership over publishing activities in the new context.
Accordingly, the city expects that by 2030 it will possess regional-caliber publishing house brands capable of competing with cross-border platforms. By 2045, Ho Chi Minh City aims to develop into a prestigious publishing hub nationally and internationally.
Following that, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee also recently issued a plan to develop the publishing, printing, distribution, and reading culture sector for the 2026–2030 period. The plan sets specific action targets, such as raising the average reading rate among city residents to 7–8 book copies per person per year by 2030 (statistical figures in 2025 stood at around 6.4 book copies per person per year), and achieving 100 percent participation in electronic publishing among publishers. In addition, the city will replicate book space models combined with cultural, educational, and experiential tourism activities.
Nguyen Thanh Loi, Director and Editor-in-Chief of Ho Chi Minh City General Publishing House, stated that the city holds a major advantage with a strong consumer market, an abundant creative workforce, and a convergence of technology, media, cinema, and education enterprises.
The publishing industry can connect with these advantages to exploit the multi-layered value of publications, such as adapting them into audiobooks, films, theatrical performances, educational programs, or digital content. At that point, publishing will become a core content provider for the city's entire cultural industry ecosystem, Director Nguyen Thanh Loi emphasized.
“The world is entering an era of rapid advancement in science and technology, digital transformation, and artificial intelligence. This presents both significant opportunities and considerable challenges for the publishing and book distribution sectors. However, regardless of technological progress, a culture of reading remains a vital foundation for developing a high-quality workforce and a learning society,” stated Deputy Chairman Nguyen Manh Cuong of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee at the ceremony marking the 50th anniversary of Fahasa (1976–2026) on August 6.
