HCM City’s Department of Science and Technology signed a memorandum of understanding with Accelerated Infrastructure Capital (AIC) to develop an AI data center at Tân Phú Trung Industrial Park, with Kinh Bắc City Development Holding Corporation (KBC) named as a project partner to be part of a joint venture.

AIC is an international data center investor and KBC is a Vietnamese industrial park developer.

The joint venture is expected to invest about US$2.1 billion in data center infrastructure, regional facilities, power, water, drainage, and GPU systems, with capital expected to be fully disbursed by the end of Q1 2027.

The project’s initial phase will include an AI factory with up to 50 MW of IT GPU load and roughly 28,000 GPU units.

City officials said the center is expected to attract high-tech firms, research and development centers, AI and cloud computing companies, and firms in the semiconductor value chain.

The city said it will keep a stable, transparent investment environment and refine policies to attract digital infrastructure and position HCM City as a regional hub for AI computing.

🔗 Source: Vietnam News

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Vietnam’s government is fast-tracking a build beyond the 50MW first phase

• Ho Chi Minh City’s Department of Science and Technology set up a 15-member task force. It aims to speed rollout and clear regulatory or procedural hold-ups within its authority 1.
• The 50MW first phase sits within a plan for a 200MW campus on a 10-hectare site. The design targets capacity for up to 100,000 GPUs over the coming years 2.
• VietinBank, one of Vietnam’s largest commercial banks, is backing the effort as a financial partner. Kinh Bắc City Development Holding Corporation (KBC), Accelerated Infrastructure Capital (AIC), plus other partners are also involved 2.

Vietnam is working to grow domestic AI computing alongside foreign-backed builds

• The investment follows a Vietnam policy change that lifted the 49% cap on foreign ownership of data centers in July 2024. The shift supports large international developments at scale 2.
• Local reporting ties the facility to “Vietnam’s sovereign AI capabilities.” The wording signals a focus on local compute, not only services for foreign cloud firms 3.
• Ho Chi Minh City also has a broader pipeline. Viettel, a Vietnamese state-backed telecom and technology group, is building a 140MW facility. Abu Dhabi-based G42, an AI and cloud computing company, plans about $2 billion for a hyperscale AI data centre, per the city’s Department of Science and Technology 1.