The Da Nang Software Park has been recognised as a centralised information technology (IT) area following Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s approval on 7 December.

The Da Nang Software Park

This is the third of its kind in the country after Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City.

The area will enjoy preferential policies, especially its access to the funding from the State budget or preferential credit packages from the Viet Nam Development Bank, the Da Nang Investment and

Development Fund, and other credit institutions nationwide, to upgrade its existing facilities and expand its business activities.

Furthermore, the strategies for the centre’s development will be added to the city’s master plan by 2020, with a vision towards 2025. 

Addressing Wednesday’s announcement event, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Minh Hong spoke highly of the centre’s significant achievements over the past years.

Established in 2000, the Da Nang Software Park is one of Viet Nam’s IT parks operating effectively.  The 10,000m² park comprising of 2 buildings in the city’s downtown is now home to 75 IT businesses, 22 of which are foreign companies. 

The park has attracted domestic and FDI inflows totalling nearly 1.8 trillion VND (80 million US$), and employment has been created for nearly 2,400 people in total, including engineers, programmers, and domestic and foreign experts. 

The businesses operating in the park are likely to have earned nearly 1,000 billion VND (over 44 million USD) by the end of this year, accounting for nearly 10% of The city’s total IT industry revenue.

Da Nang is expected to develop another 2 or 3 dedicated IT areas in the years ahead to promote joint IT research activities amongst them.

Also within the framework of the announcement event, there was a ceremony to mark the 10th founding anniversary of the Da Nang ICT Infrastructure Development Centre, which is responsible for operating and managing the Da Nang Software Park.

Addressing the ceremony, municipal People’s Committee Vice Chairman Ho Ky Minh underlined the need for the Centre and the newly-recognised centralised IT area to fully tap their internal and external resources to further their development.  In particular, these units should give even more ideal suggestions to the city authorities in developing more plans to build a smart city, and to develop high-quality human resources for the city’s IT sector in the future years.

The city is now appealing for investment inflows to upgrade its existing IT and telecommunications infrastructure system, as well as to develop Da Nang Software Park No2, the 2^nd centralised IT area, and other related projects.

Da Nang was the first city in Central Viet Nam to offer free wireless Internet services, with a maximum of 20,000 connections at major centres and streets across this locality.