Ho Chi Minh City has granted investors a licence to develop the "Saigon Silicon City" in the Saigon Hi-Tech Park (SHTP).

According to Thoi Bao Kinh Te Sai Gon online, the project follows the model of the US' Silicon Valley, home to many of the world's biggest high-tech corporations and technology start-up companies.

It has an investment capital of about 860 billion VND, or 40 million USD, and will be spread over 52 hectares.

Nguyen Minh Hieu, a Vietnamese American and Chairman of the Silicon Saigon Park JSC, represented investors to receive the investment licence from municipal People's Committee Vice Chairman Le Manh Ha on April 27.

Real estate firm Viet R.E.M.A.X and Vector Fabrication Vietnam Co. Ltd., plus an individual named Nguyen Trung Quang, jointly formed the Silicon Saigon Park.

Hieu said the Saigon Silicon City was expected to have adequate infrastructure, conveniences and services to attract overseas Vietnamese and foreign enterprises with investments in the high-tech area, as well as support industries.

He said work on the project would begin next month and investment attraction was slated for early 2016. The Saigon Silicon City would have lured around 1.5 billion USD in investments when fully occupied, he anticipated.

Some two dozens of enterprises had expressed interest in investing here, he said, adding that future operations in this area would help technology developers increase the domestic content in their products.

People's Committee officials pledged maximum incentives here to accelerate investments in the eastern gateway of HCM City.

Also the same day, the SHTP management board licensed the "Millennium Park" project, which would be built by the Nguyen Tat Thanh University with an investment capital of 900 billion VND, or 41.6 million USD.

The 22.7ha park would be covered by nursery gardens, scientific areas and agricultural fields. This was the third project of the university in the SHTP, besides technology development and training centres, and was expected to be operational by early 2017.

The national-level SHTP has reportedly attracted 68 investment projects with a total registered capital of 4.1 billion USD since its establishment in 2002.

Enterprises here have exported about 10 billion USD and imported roughly 8.8 billion USD worth of goods.-VNA