Investing
Infrastructure creates solid ground for suburban areas
From strategic highways to the Long Thanh International Airport and urban metro lines, transport infrastructure is proving an important lever to help economic growth and engage real estate investment.
The Thu Thiem New Urban Area in Ho Chi Minh City has emerged as an urban development centre with key infrastructure connection projects such as bridges and tunnels.
The area seeks more pedestrian bridges and the Thu Thiem 3 bridge connecting with District 4, and Thu Thiem 4 bridge connecting to District 7. In addition, metro line 2 linking the city centre to Cu Chi, a suburban district of Ho Chi Minh City, is also contributes to perfecting the regional transport infrastructure.
This area is recording strong growth in real estate value and has become an ideal destination for Grade A office buildings, commercial complexes and luxury apartments.
Huynh Thi Kim Thanh, investment advisory manager at Savills Vietnam, commented that major infrastructure constructions improve regional connectivity and add immense value to surrounding areas, opening up new real estate investment opportunities.
“Infrastructure integration doesn’t just create tangible value for real estate developments and enhances Vietnam’s appeal to global investors. The wave of infrastructure improvements creates immediate benefits while laying a foundation for long-term growth in Vietnam’s real estate market. Suburban and neighbouring provinces are poised to become future investment hotspots. The Long Thanh International Airport and urban metro lines will generate new opportunities for real estate and the broader economy,” Thanh said.
A series of large real estate developments are also taking advantage of infrastructure improvements to create competitive advantages.
For example, Vinhomes Long Beach Can Gio, located in the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City, is considered one of the largest coastal real estate projects in Vietnam.
Expected to start construction this year, Vinhomes Long Beach Can Gio is becoming an attractive investment destination thanks to convenient traffic connections from Ho Chi Minh City.
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| A raft of new developments are creating a period of progress for urban areas of Ho Chi Minh City Photo: Le Toan |
Localities benefiting
According to Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, in 2024-2030, more than 70 per cent of the total investment capital of more than $14.58 billion will be reserved to improve the transport system in the eastern region.
Specifically, ring road 3 started construction in June 2023 and is expected to open to traffic this year. The 3-storey An Phu intersection construction with an investment of more than $142 million will be inaugurated in late 2025.
These developments, combined with the Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien metro line which came into operation from the end of 2024 and the upcoming Long Thanh airport, will enhance the urban space, opening up a period of new development for the entire eastern urban area of Ho Chi Minh City.
Trang Le, head of Research and Consulting at JLL Vietnam, said big cities and provinces were dominated by the high-end housing segment and lacked commercial housing developments with prices suitable for the financial capabilities of most people.
“The city market is expected to receive new supply in the lower price segment next year, most of these will be located in areas outside the 10km from the city centre. Preferential sales policies to stimulate buyer demand are expected to continue in the near future,” Le said.
The eastern urban area of Ho Chi Minh City includes five dynamic urban areas: Thu Duc city, Di An city (Binh Duong province), Bien Hoa city (Dong Nai province) and two strongly developing districts of Long Thanh and Nhon Trach also in Dong Nai.
This area focuses on a modern transportation system with multi-way connections including the Hanoi Highway, National Highway 1, National Highway 51, and many others.
Furthermore, this is also an area that is booming with infrastructure developments investing billions of US dollars with the ambition of becoming a giant traffic hub. These include the Long Thanh International Airport, Bien Hoa-Vung Tau Expressway, and ring roads 3 and 4.
Binh Duong province has emerged as a potential bright spot with methodical planning, synchronous transport infrastructure, and attractive investment policies.
With an estimated investment capital of approximately $797 million, Sycamore, Singaporean CapitaLand’s first large-scale residential development in Vietnam, will offer more than 460 low-rise villas and about 3,300 apartments when it is fully completed in 2028.
Significant space
Meanwhile, Malaysian group Gamuda Land is developing Artisan Park in Binh Duong, a compound of 349 high-end commercial townhouse products. Costing more than $117 million, it is expected to be put into operation in phases starting from the end of 2025.
Dong Nai province has nearly 230 real estate projects that are under construction. Most of these are located in four localities with strong industrial development and a large population.
According to the Airports Corporation of Vietnam, when completed and put into operation, the Long Thanh airport will need almost 14,000 workers. The total number of residents in this area should be around 100,000 in the resettlement area and many residents on site. This creates significant demand for housing and living services, opening up the potential for developing various real estate types such as apartments, townhouses, villas, forming complex urban clusters.
In the north, Hung Yen and Haiphong have significant room for real estate development.
With the development of regional transport infrastructure planning, Hung Yen province continuously receives huge capital flows from real estate companies, and renowned giants in the real estate sector.
Among those, a housing development that has received a lot of attention is Vaquaris Van Giang belonging to Bao Hung Investment JSC, which is offering around 285 houses and villas late in 2025.
Nguyen Anh Tuan Khanh, vice chairman of the company, said that the Hung Yen real estate market was showing positive signs as the number of transactions increased, the market had passed the bottom, and many investors were ready to invest money in the new cycle.
“This is time for developers to jump into Hung Yen province where demand is increasing time by time,” Khanh said.
According to Savills Vietnam, 108,000 housing products are expected to enter the Hung Yen market by the end of 2025 to meet future demand.
Haiphong city has many positive signals for attracting investment, including potential advantages from seaports, developing industrial zones and clusters, and better conditions for capital and policy credit.
Tran Huy Bien, director of real estate research group An Phu Land, said that despite the influence of the global economy, the Haiphong market was seeing interest from many investors, with key projects starting construction, covering everything from transportation to social and high-end housing.
“The development of industrial parks and clusters is the current driving force for the real estate market in An Lao, Tien Lang, and Vinh Bao. In the future, after completing the coastal road connecting Haiphong, Thai Binh, and Nam Dinh, there will be more economic motivation for the region. The construction of the southern economic zone of Haiphong and Tien Lang airport will particularly help the real estate market to develop quickly and sustainably,” Bien said.
The Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association (HoREA) has proposed a pilot mechanism that would allow businesses to invest in and construct worker housing within industrial parks.
In a document submitted to the Prime Minister, contributing feedback on a draft pilot policy aimed at boosting social housing development, HoREA suggested that businesses, cooperatives, and cooperative unions operating within industrial parks be permitted to build accommodation for their workers. It also called for allowing companies to rent housing outside industrial parks for the same purpose.
HoREA emphasized that all costs related to building or renting worker housing should be recognized as legitimate business expenses and be included in the enterprise’s operating costs.
The association further recommended expanding the policy framework to allow companies within industrial parks to lease social housing or worker accommodation built by third-party developers outside the park premises.
According to Mr. Lê Hoàng Châu, Chairman of HoREA, the current Housing Law (2023) only allows companies to rent worker housing inside industrial parks, without clearly defining whether they can rent social housing outside the parks or construct such housing themselves.
With worker housing demand at industrial parks far exceeding supply, HoREA pointed out that current social housing and dormitory offerings are inadequate. Meanwhile, commercial housing remains out of reach for most workers due to high prices. Therefore, the association urges the government to introduce policies enabling manufacturing businesses—despite not operating in real estate—to develop their own accommodation solutions for employees.
HoREA underscored that such policies would create a strong legal foundation, empowering enterprises and cooperatives to proactively resolve housing issues for workers. If allowed to construct their own housing, companies could ensure homes go to those in need, boosting employee retention, improving living standards, and supporting sustainable growth in industrial zones.
The association also proposed financial support mechanisms, including tax incentives, access to preferential loans, or government-matching support, to reduce the financial burden on companies participating in worker housing development.
Previously, many businesses had expressed a desire to buy land, build housing, and offer installment-based homeownership plans to workers, whereby employees would pay monthly through salary deductions. While this model helps workers secure long-term housing, legal procedures remain a major hurdle.
Providing accommodation has increasingly become part of corporate strategies to retain labor, alongside other employee welfare policies. For example, Nissei Electric Vietnam (Linh Trung 1 Export Processing Zone, Thu Duc City) has built a dormitory complex with 285 shared rooms, housing up to 2,280 workers. Eternal Prowess Vietnam (District 12) and Thien Phat Company (Linh Trung 2 EPZ) have also invested in on-site worker housing. Thien Phat’s project includes 368 units (35m² each), rented at VND 2.2 million/month, with 80% of the units for families and 20% for shared accommodations.
As of Q2 2024, Ho Chi Minh City has 18 industrial parks with around 1,700 businesses employing approximately 320,000 workers. Citywide, over 1.3 million people are employed in factories. However, there are only 16 official worker housing complexes, accommodating about 22,000 people. The majority of workers rely on rented rooms or stay with acquaintances—often sharing 12m² rooms among 2–3 people, which consumes 15–20% of their monthly income.
From 2021 to the present, Ho Chi Minh City has completed six social housing projects with 2,700 units and is building four more with 3,000 units. By April 30, the city aims to resolve legal hurdles and break ground on 5–6 additional social housing projects, totaling around 8,000 units.
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According to Statista Market Insights, the Vietnamese semiconductor market is forecast to see healthy growth with a compound annual growth rate of 9.62 per cent between 2024 and 2027, reaching a market volume of $26.20 billion.
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| Le Quan, Senior lecturer Faculty of Engineering Fulbright University Vietnam |
Vietnam also boasts over 30 foreign-led companies in integrated circuit (IC) design, including established players like Renesas, Synopsys, and Cadence alongside innovative startups like Ampere, ADTechnology, Inphi, FingerVina, Dolphin Technology. The sector also encompasses numerous smaller firms with around 100 or fewer employees.
By 2040, Vietnam is poised to become a crucial player in the global semiconductor ecosystem, encompassing all aspects of the industry, from design and manufacturing to assembly, test, and packaging (ATP) and equipment fabrication.
The strategy emphasises the importance of fostering a skilled workforce. Vietnam boasts a strong talent pool in the semiconductor industry, with 50,000 design engineers, 200,000 electronics engineers, 500,000 technical workers, and one million software engineers. To further enhance this workforce, the strategy aims to transition up to 30,000 personnel from the existing pool of 350,000 IT and telecommunications engineers.
The global semiconductor packaging landscape is undergoing a rapid transformation, driven by a surge in new facilities across Asia. The wave of semiconductor investment in Vietnam and the industry’s demand for personnel have driven educational institutions, from top universities to vocational colleges, to launch training programmes related to semiconductors.
Last year, major universities such as Hanoi University of Science and Technology, University of IT – Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh, and the University of Engineering and Technology announced engineering programmes specialising in semiconductors. Younger universities like FPT and Phenikaa are also making significant investments in this area, not only in training initiatives but also in facilities and equipment.
However, to truly understand the current landscape of semiconductor training in Vietnam, it is essential to look at the regulations and current state of training schemes in this field from 2024 backward.
Firstly, the high costs associated with establishing chip fabrication facilities make it an impractical investment for Vietnam. The country’s resources would be better allocated towards sectors that promise more immediate returns, such as ATP and IC design. Advanced packaging technologies represent a feasible and profitable entry point in the global semiconductor value chain, aligning with Vietnam’s strengths in low-cost, adaptable labour.
Vietnam should focus on drawing overseas funding into ATP operations, leveraging its lower labour costs to attract foreign companies. The availability of a high-quality but affordable workforce makes Vietnam an attractive destination for packaging, testing, and assembly processes. Prioritising such investment with advanced packaging capabilities will allow Vietnam to build a competitive advantage in this sector.
Meanwhile, the IC design segment represents a high-value opportunity with significant global demand. To capitalise on this, Vietnam should proactively seek partnerships and outsourced projects from international IC design firms. Engaging Vietnamese firms in IC design outsourcing allows for skill transfer, builds local capacity, and positions Vietnam as a reliable partner in the global semiconductor value chain.
Collaboration between industry, educators, and government should be boosted. Building a cohesive semiconductor workforce will require closer partnerships between educational institutions, industry players, and the government.
By integrating real-world projects into academic programmes, Vietnamese graduates will better understand the industry’s practical requirements and be more prepared to transition directly into the workforce. Schemes that bring industry projects to academia will provide students with hands-on experience, making them job-ready upon graduation.
At the same time, establishing specialised training for semiconductor roles, particularly in ATP and IC design, will be essential to reduce the industry’s current reliance on costly in-house training. This should involve upskilling engineers from related fields through short, intensive courses designed to meet industry standards.
Partnerships with international organisations for curriculum development, as well as accreditation for training initiatives, will help elevate Vietnam’s semiconductor workforce to global standards.
Vietnam can also implement “train-the-trainer” programmes. Its academic institutions face a shortage of faculty members with practical experience in semiconductor technologies. By leveraging international partnerships, Vietnam can upskill its instructors, who can then transfer these skills to future generations of engineers.
Notably, several US institutions have expressed willingness to offer training to Vietnamese trainers, a vital step towards creating a sustainable, locally driven semiconductor education ecosystem.
Finally, effective workforce development in the semiconductor industry requires government involvement in fostering a supportive ecosystem. Policies that incentivise partnerships between academia and industry, such as funding for research and development and joint training programmes, are critical.
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