Ho Chi Minh City (VNA) - Supporting industry firms in Ho Chi Minh City are scrambling to embed themselves more deeply into both global and domestic supply chains, backed by a suite of local incentives that are speeding up their tech upgrades and market access.
Subsidised loans drive technology investment
Nguyen Ngo Long, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Nhat Long Mechanical Trading Co., Ltd, said his company just shelled out for three next-generation milling machines equipped with artificial intelligence, all in a bid to improve product quality and at last secure a place in the global supply chain.
About 85% of the outlay, or nearly 14 billion VND (538,000 USD), was covered by Ho Chi Minh City’s interest rate subsidy scheme, with the loan disbursed in late 2025 on a seven-year term and near-full interest support. “The loan has eased financial pressure and allowed us to push ahead with technology upgrades”, Long said.
Indeed, loans under the city’s investment stimulus and interest support schemes have become something of a cash lifeline for industry firms hungry for nonstop innovation and modernisation.
The scheme itself has been around for more than 20 years. It was paused in 2021–2022 before being revived under Resolution 09, with the municipal People’s Council clarifying priority sectors and eligible participants in late 2023. In July 2024, the municipal People’s Committee issued Decision 42 to resume the scheme, routing financing through the Ho Chi Minh City Finance and Investment State-Owned Company.
Priority areas include high technology, digital transformation, startups and supporting industries.
Stronger supply chain linkages
While individual companies hustle on their own to find partners, industry associations are ramping up schemes to hook Vietnamese suppliers directly to foreign manufacturers.
Huynh Kieu Son, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Mechanical and Electrical Business Association (HAMEE), said one of its big moves this year is staging supply-demand matching events right inside industrial parks so that domestic firms can shake hands with foreign buyers on the spot.
Such have dramatically boosted the number of mechanical and electrical firms winning places in supply chains both at home and abroad, with participation exploding more than 30% compared to three years ago, Son noted.
Bui Thi Thanh Huyen, a strategic procurement specialist at Samsung Electronics Vietnam, said following a 2025 supplier matching event involving 16 companies, Samsung’s Ho Chi Minh City factory is now working with two Vietnamese firms and plans to broaden cooperation this year.
Tran Van Hoa, Acting Director of the Centre for Industrial and Supporting Industry Development under the municipal Department of Industry and Trade, said the department will continue with supplier search conferences and teaming up with industry associations and multinational corporations such as Samsung, Bosch, Intel and Toyota to run matching events, training sessions and consulting services to help supporting industry firms elevate their production capabilities./.
