The year 2023 marked the first time total investment channeled into industrial parks and export processing zones in Ho Chi Minh City surpassed US$1 billion in a single year, according to a local official.

The exact figure is $1.012 billion, meeting 184 percent of the target and skyrocketing 84 percent from 2022.

Of the total, foreign investment accounted for over $222 million, up 13.4 percent versus 2022.

Domestic investment amounted to over VND18.5 trillion, or $789 million, jumping nearly 124 percent against 2022.

That capital included some VND16.7 trillion ($675.6 million) poured into 46 new projects.

One of these investments – a project related to information technology, digital transformation and data center development by Vietnamese military-run Viettel Group in outlying Cu Chi District – carried a $624-million price tag, Hua Quoc Hung, head of the Ho Chi Minh City Export Processing and Industrial Zones Authority (HEPZA), said at a press conference on Wednesday.

The project was announced at a conference to promote investment in Hoc Mon and Cu Chi Districts in 2022, according to HEPZA.

Domestic investment, foreign investment, as well as the average investment on each hectare of land in industrial parks and export processing zones in 2023 improved over the previous year, proving that Ho Chi Minh City has carefully selected projects despite a tight land bank with the aim of luring more giant investors, Hung said.

According to HEPZA, Ho Chi Minh City currently has 17 industrial and export processing zones, attracting nearly 1,700 projects and employing almost 252,100 laborers, inching down eight percent against 2022.

Enterprises in these zones contributed over VND23 trillion ($932.4 million) to the city’s budget, making up 5.25 percent of the city’s total budget revenue, news site VnExpress reported.

Nguyen Vo Minh Thu, deputy head of HEPZA, said a survey on 520 enterprises which employ more than 184,700 laborers showed that most of the companies were facing difficulties in production and business in 2023, but they tried to offer Lunar New Year bonuses to their employees.

The average holiday bonus for employees at industrial parks and export processing zones was VND7.3 million ($296).

HEPZA set a target to attract $550 million in investment in industrial parks and export processing zones in 2024 with an average of $8.5 million per hectare of land.

The authority also looked to complete the building of 25,000 square meters of high-rise factories this year.

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