HCMCity (VNS/VNA) - The "main pillars" of a plannedinnovative urban area in the eastern part of HCM City are ready to be connectedto form a new administrative unit.

The city government has approved merging the three eastern districts of 2,9, and Thu Duc into one administrative unit to form an innovation hubin its east.

The hub will cover more than 211sq.km and be home to more than 1.1 millionpeople. It is expected to promote economic growth in the city and thesouthern region.

It will serve as a centre for three main functions: scientific andtechnological research and application; education and training ofhigh-quality human resources; and production and trade of hi-tech products andservices.

It is expected to contribute a third of the city’s GDP, accountingfor 7 percent of national GDP.

Since 2018, the city has been working on the projectto build the eastern innovative urban area based onthree "main pillars": Saigon High-Tech Park (SHTP) inDistrict 9, Thu Thiem New Urban Area in District 2 and the VietnamNational University, HCM City (VNU-HCM) in Thu Duc district.

The SHTP is considered the nucleus for development ofthe eastern innovation urban area. It provides and nurturesscientific and innovative ideas, and attracts investment capital and qualityhuman resources in high-tech fields that adapt to Industry 4.0.

In the last four years, it had total export value of 46.36 billionUSD. Last year, total export value reached 17.24 billion USD.

Enterprises in the SHTP have increasingly contributed to the state budget, from123.36 million USD in the 2011-15 period to more than 1 billion USD in the2016-19 period, an increase of more than 8.1 times.

State budget revenues collected from the enterprises is expectedto increase from this year because enterprises have run outof preferential tax policies.

SHTP is entering a new stage of development, aiming to become a smart,innovative technology park in the next five years. Its management boardhas actively promoted a programme to develop high-technology supportingindustries, and increase the added value of the domestic trade sector.

It is also stepping up the use of artificial intelligence (AI)technology in administrative management towards a modern governance model.

It plans to upgrade the research and development (R&D) centreinto a research and development institute, the incubation centre into aninnovation centre, and the training centre into a training institute forhigh-quality human resources.

The park has also strengthened connections betweenVietnamese and FDI firms, VNU-HCM and enterprises, and bilateraland multilateral cooperation betweenexperts in science and technology, and between experts andenterprises.

Nguyen Anh Thi, head of the SHTP management board, said the futuredirection for SHTP’s development would be associated with thedevelopment of the eastern innovative urban area.

It has set out three main tasks, the first of which is tobuild policies, improve quality and efficiency of foreigninvestment by 2030, and attract foreign investment in a selective mannerfocusing on quality, efficiency, technology and environmental protection as theevaluation criteria.

The second task is to speed up the implementation of investment projectsin the SHTP’s 93ha Scientific Space, enhance linkages of allenterprises and between enterprises and universities andresearch institutes. This aims to raise the innovativepotential of enterprises and boost production of high-tech products.

Thirdly, the SHTP will be a scientific-technological park whichwill play a role as a hub for research on science andtechnologies, and technological applications and transfers; andwill serve as a link to research developing the innovationurban area.

The Thu Thiem new urban area project was approved by the Government in 1996 andhas taken more than 10 years to complete site clearance. More than 99 percentof land in the proposed area has been cleared.

The new urban area will cover 657ha on Thu Thiem Peninsula in District 2 andfaces downtown District 1 across the Sài Gòn River. Its land lots will bedeveloped for both public services and commercial purposes.

District 2, including the Thu Thiem new urban area, is expectedto become a financial complex and an important part of the plannedeastern innovation urban area.

As one of the three main pillars in the eastern innovative urban area,VNU-HCM is seen as a training centre for high-quality human resources anda scientific research centre for various fields.

Covering a total area of more than 643ha, VNU-HCM is one of the country’slargest educational organisations. It has 36 units for training, scientificresearch and technology transfers, including seven member universities.

It trains about 69,000 undergraduates and postgraduates every year, and has ateaching staff of more than 1,300 people with doctorates and 400professors and associate professors.

The university has developed close relations between the State, scientists and enterprises.

Its Information Technology Park (ITP) has been assigned to set up a researchgroup for the establishment of the eastern innovation urban area. The ITPwill begin as a startup ecosystem, and then become a centre forentrepreneurship and innovation in the information and communicationstechnology sector.

Thanks to its advantages, VNU-HCM is the ideal placefor innovation and start-ups as well as businessincubation./.