Starmason secures land lease for data centre at Saigon Hi-Tech Park

Starmason secures land lease for data centre at Saigon Hi-Tech Park

Starmason JSC has secured a 4.5-hectare land lease at Saigon Hi-Tech Park to develop a $480 million hyperscale data centre.

Photo: Le Toan

Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee approved the lease for a term running to March 2076, according to a decision released on September 9. Starmason is a joint venture between Singapore's Sembcorp Development and Vietnamese partner BB Holding.

The decision states that the project qualifies for investment incentives and special incentives, allowing land leasing without auction or bidding, based on meeting conditions for land rent exemption.

The Department of Agriculture and Environment is responsible for accurately determining the conditions and duration of land lease fee exemption based on the opinions of the Management Authority of Saigon High-Tech Park and the Department of Finance.

Starmason is responsible for fulfilling all financial obligations regarding land, reimbursing compensation, support, and resettlement costs to the state budget, and other payable amounts (if any) as notified by competent authorities, within the specified timeline and in accordance with the law.

The company must use the land for the intended purpose, within the specified boundaries, area, duration, and form of land lease as determined; fully implement the contents of the Investment Registration Certificate; ensure funding, project progress, and comply with regulations on investment, construction, environmental protection, and fire prevention and control.

If the conditions for exemption from land rent are no longer met, or if the land is used for wrong purposes, or the investor has signs of violating the Land Law, the investor will have to bear the financial obligations and penalties.

The Starmason complex registered investment of $480 million, according to its investment approval given in March. The facility is designed for an initial 60 MW of IT capacity, expandable to 90 MW. It will serve AI, cloud computing, big-data processing, and high-performance computing.

The project can meet the Uptime Institute’s Tier III standard for data centres, to reach the top Tier IV rating.

Starmason was incorporated in November 2025 to develop the project. Sembcorp Development, a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore’s Sembcorp Industries, later acquired 49 per cent of the venture alongside BB Holding.

VIR