Vietnam to announce over $13bn in new investments at Autumn Economic Forum 2026

The announcement is scheduled for October 28, immediately after a high-level plenary session and a 60-minute dialogue between Prime Minister Le Minh Hung and senior World Economic Forum (WEF) leaders on positioning Vietnam in the global future, Le Truong Duy, director of the Vietnam Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC C4IR) and a member of the organizing committee, said at a press conference on Tuesday.

The 12 projects will involve both foreign investors and domestic businesses, with total newly registered capital exceeding US$13 billion, Duy added.

The forum's official title is 'Autumn Economic Forum 2026 – The Convergence of New Global Growth Poles.'

The four-day event is directed by the prime minister, hosted by the Ho Chi Minh City administration and implemented by HCMC C4IR, with the WEF co-branding the main sessions on October 27 and 28.

It is expected to bring together more than 1,500 Vietnamese and international delegates for 16 thematic sessions, three high-level sessions and around 300 presentations by experts and speakers.

Duy said the WEF's co-branding of a program with a local government for the first time worldwide reflected the growing international standing of Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City.

He said cooperation with the WEF would help the city connect with global partners and mobilize international resources, enabling Vietnam to move beyond actively participating in global growth to jointly creating new growth opportunities.

Alongside the investment announcement, the Vietnam International Financial Center in Ho Chi Minh City (VIFC-HCMC) is expected to announce its first 10 members.

The city and the WEF are also in the final stages of negotiations on a joint statement aimed at mobilizing international resources to support Ho Chi Minh City's goal of achieving double-digit economic growth, with a vision to 2030.

According to Duy, the proposed statement would focus on four areas: foreign direct investment, science and technology, international research and development (R&D) networks, and international capital flows.

The forum will also address the shift of global growth poles toward Asia, Africa and Latin America, as megacities increasingly become hubs for coordinating capital, technology and innovation, the organizing committee said.

Duy said discussions would go beyond technology itself to examine how it could support new economic growth models and be translated into economic value.

Through the forum, Ho Chi Minh City aims to communicate a new development approach centered on rapidly transforming its economic model and promoting growth driven by knowledge, science and technology, Duy told Tuoi Tre (Youth) online newspaper.

The city also hopes to be recognized by major cities worldwide as a key node in emerging global growth networks, he said.