The surge in investment reflects Vietnam’s emergence from the shadow of regional giants like Singapore and Malaysia. With just 51 MW of total capacity across its two main cities – compared to Singapore’s more than 1 GW – Vietnam represents one of Asia’s last major untapped markets.
But as Singapore’s building moratorium forces expansion elsewhere, Vietnam’s combination of low energy costs, renewable power access, and 97 million increasingly digital consumers is attracting serious attention from global players.
Ho Chi Minh City remains Vietnam’s primary data center hotspot due to its economic scale and connectivity. Image: Alamy
Major Players Entering Vietnam
Samsung C&T and Vietnam’s CMC Corporation recently announced a $1.3 billion plan to build a large data center hub in Ho Chi Minh City, including a 30 MW first phase and a 100 MW follow-on development.
Google is also considering a hyperscale facility near Ho Chi Minh City, which would be the first data center investment by a major US technology company in the country.
According to a recent Reuters report, the data center could come online as early as 2027 and would support Google Cloud services and Vietnam’s fast-growing base of YouTube users.
The project would be a major vote of confidence for Vietnam’s maturing digital economy, with John Dinsdale, chief analyst and research director, Synergy Research Group, noting the country is “very underdeveloped” relative to its neighbors.
