Ho Chi Minh City is aiming to attract domestic and overseas green investments to boost sustainable development.

Vietnam’s largest economic hub has taken steps to become part of national initiatives to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, within an economic forum themed “Green Growth – Journey to Zero Net Emissions” in September last year.

In addition, in January, the municipal People’s Committee coordinated with the World Bank (WB) in the organisation of an investment promotion conference for green growth.

Indeed, green growth is a key focus in Ho Chi Minh City’s 2021-2030 plans, including a vision to 2050, as well as policies, criteria, and models in every sector, Vietnam Plus reports.

According to the Director of the Investment & Trade Promotion Centre of HCM City, Tran Phu Lu, the city will urge for additional investments in knowledge-intensive sectors as well as others featuring pioneering technologies.

Furthermore, the digital economy will take priority in the short term, along with Fourth Industrial Revolution industries, information technology, semiconductors and clean energy, amongst others.

In the long term, the city will urge companies to boost investment in innovation and tech, particularly in core and source technologies.

Moreover, the city and World Bank also unveiled two large-scale projects at the conference focused on flood risk management in Thu Duc City and low-carbon urban area construction.

In 2023, Ho Chi Minh City introduced a plan to execute the green growth strategy towards sustainable development by 2030, the Vietnam Plus report adds. Within the plans, green and high-tech projects will be the major focus of selecting investment.

That said, the city continues to face the obstacle of a lack of a comprehensive legal framework in relation to green growth.

As such, according to experts, bolstering public-private cooperation and improving the legal framework in relation to green finance and green investment are of paramount importance.