The signing of a framework agreement between UAE-based Group 42 Holding Ltd, or G42, and a consortium of domestic investors for an AI-based hyperscale data center project in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Duc Thien / Tuoi Tre
The project was unveiled at an investment promotion conference on digital technology infrastructure and large-scale data centers held in the city on Sunday.
It is expected to help lay the digital backbone for a smart city and the Vietnam International Financial Center.
At the event, Group 42 Holding Ltd, or G42, a leading artificial intelligence and cloud computing group based in the UAE’s Abu Dhabi, signed a framework agreement with a consortium of domestic investors to develop the hyperscale data center in the city.
Designed as an AI-optimized facility, the center will support artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and high-performance data processing, with capacity far exceeding that of conventional data centers.
According to officials, the project marks a major milestone in the city’s long-term digital infrastructure strategy, helping strengthen data security, expand computing capacity, and support innovation, while serving as a core pillar of the smart city and international financial center ecosystem.
In October 2025, Lam Dinh Thang, director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Science and Technology, said G42 had proposed investing $2 billion in building an AI-based hyperscale data center in the city.
Following the proposal, Ho Chi Minh City reported the plan to central authorities and established a dedicated task force to work directly with the investor on feasibility and implementation.
Prior to the signing of the framework agreement, G42 joined UAE business delegations to Vietnam to survey investment opportunities and hold working sessions with leading Vietnamese companies on large-scale digital infrastructure projects.
Founded in 2018, the group focuses on artificial intelligence, cloud computing, data technology, and supercomputing, with applications across healthcare, finance, oil and gas, aviation, and hospitality.
It had more than 25,000 employees last year, with reported revenue of $150 million in 2023.
According to Thang, alongside G42, Ho Chi Minh City is also attracting several other large and ultra-large data center projects from strategic science and technology investors.
Beyond the project with G42, the Sunday conference also saw the signing of other major agreements aligned with the city’s digital transformation agenda.
These included a creative complex project backed by the FPT–VinaCapital–Viet Thai alliance and the launch of the Ho Chi Minh City digital asset investment fund, which has a target size of $1 billion and is expected to support the development of an on-chain financial center within the international financial center framework.
In parallel, the Saigon High-Tech Park Management Board signed cooperation agreements with VinaCapital to promote data infrastructure projects and green energy solutions for the sustainable operation of next-generation data centers.
