Ho Chi Minh City registered $17.225bn of foreign direct investment in the year to September 19, roughly 4.19 times the level recorded in the same period of 2025, VnEconomy reported on September 29. The figure equals 156.6% of the city's full-year target.

Vietnam's commercial capital now expects registered FDI to reach about $19bn for the whole of 2026, or 172.7% of plan, a jump driven by a handful of very large infrastructure and technology commitments rather than a broad-based rise in project numbers.

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Finance said new investment registration certificates were issued for 1,438 projects worth $9.358bn by September 19. A further 225 projects adjusted their capital upwards for a net increase of $4.927bn, while 1,450 transactions involving capital contributions and share purchases totalled $2.94bn. New capital made up 54.3% of the total, with adjusted capital accounting for 28.6%.

The biggest single commitment was the Can Gio International Transshipment Port, with total investment of more than $4.9bn. The AI Factory Data Center followed at around $2.1bn. Both fall within sectors the city has prioritised, including seaport infrastructure, logistics, digital infrastructure and artificial intelligence.

Investors have also proposed adding about $2.8bn to the International University Urban Area project and some $1.4bn to the Smart Complex project in Functional Area 2a of the Thu Thiem New Urban Area.

Export processing zones and industrial parks drew more than $5.57bn in total investment in the first nine months, of which FDI exceeded $4.2bn, up 62.22% year on year, according to the Management Board of Ho Chi Minh City's Export Processing and Industrial Zones. The board granted 100 new FDI projects worth $3.14bn and approved capital increases of $1.12bn across 120 projects.

For 2026-2030 the board is targeting $20bn to $21bn in investment, with average investment of $8mn to $10mn per hectare and disbursement of more than 70% of registered capital.