This year, Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) intends to develop high-tech projects, support industries and information technology as part of its socioeconomic development. With this objective, HCMC has continued investing in the technology sector; encouraging enterprises to donate to technological development funds; called for businesses to expand the market for hi-tech products and efficiently exploited the domestic market.
According to Director of HCMC Science and Technology Department Phan Minh Tan, HCMC planned to launch 13 socioeconomic and science and technology research projects during the 2011-2015 period in biotechnology, information technology, geographical information system (GIS), engineering and automation.
Deputy Director of Quang Trung Software City Development Company Limited (QTSC) Lam Nguyen Hai Long said that "To date, QTSC has attracted 102 IT enterprises including 44 foreign enterprises (Europe: 16, America: 7, and Asia: 21) and 58 domestic enterprises, with total registered capital of US$78.83 million. Last year, total revenue of these enterprises reached VND2 trillion, of which domestic sales made up VND983 billion and the rest by foreign sales.
Along with QTSC, Saigon Hi-tech Park (SHTP) has become a hi-tech focus in HCMC. In recent years, SHTP has constantly grown and become increasingly attractive to foreign investors. Head of SHTP Management Board Le Hoai Quoc said "SHTP has so far registered 57 investment projects with total capital of US$2.03 billion, of which the disbursed capital volume has reached US$706.6 million. Last year, SHTP's total production value hit US$766.385 million, worth US$1.741 billion in cumulative value; SHTP's total export value reached US$756.385 million, hitting 1.72 billion in cumulative value (of which the Intel Vietnam contributed more than US$500 million). This is a major highlight for SHTP, contributing considerably to HCMC's overall socioeconomic objectives.
Vietnam National University's Integrated Circuit Design Research and Education Center (ICDREC) has also contributed greatly to HCMC's strong development of its hi-tech sector in recent years, researching and putting into use processor chips including SigmaK3, TH7150, and VN1632 models. ICDREC has become a leading center of semiconductor research and product development in the country. ICDREC's testing room is the first in Vietnam to conduct the testing of small-sized and medium-sized semiconductor IP cores designed by Vietnamese engineers in collaboration with foreign counterparts. These inspections cost from US$10,000 to 15,000 at time. This is a new step in HCMC's technological development.
On the basis of these results, HCMC's science and technology enterprises have outlined the strategic direction and key solutions for a hi-tech breakthrough in 2012, creating an impetus for the city's hi-tech take-off.
This year, SHTP has targeted attracting from 10 to 12 projects with registered capital of US$160 million, and to attain an export value of US$1.5 billion. SHTP will also focus on investment projects for an internet city and software development, the Sixteenth Annual Conference of Asian Science Park Association, the celebration of SHTP's tenth anniversary, and some other projects related to solar energy.
QTSC will continue developing software production and IT services, step by step transforming into one of largest hi-tech focuses in the country and the region; improving working conditions and living facilities, with the aim of better supporting enterprises.
With practical sci-tech policies and the determination of HCMC government and enterprises, it is expected that 2012 will be a successful year for HCMC's sci-tech sector and the city will soon become a national and later a regional key sci-tech hub in the future./.
