Tokgistic approved for nearly $1 billion investment in Ho Chi Minh City

Ho Chi Minh City Department of Finance granted approval for the Swift Logistics project on September 7. According to a statement from TikTok, the project has the total registered investment capital of VND25.85 trillion ($980 million), with the investor contributing $196 million and $784 million to be mobilised. It has a 50-year operating term and is expected to commence operations in November.

Swift Logistics has registered to operate in postal services, delivery, market research, and management consulting. For postal services, the company will sign contracts with customers but will not directly provide delivery and/or related logistics services. These activities will instead be carried out through third-party logistics providers contracted by the company.

The Swift Logistics project marks the next step in TikTok’s plans to expand its investment footprint in Vietnam, which the company discussed with Ho Chi Minh City leaders in 2025. At a meeting with Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Nguyen Van Duoc, TikTok’s Southeast Asia leadership said the company was considering bringing some services currently provided cross-border into Vietnam. It also proposed establishing three companies specialising in logistics, digital payments, and digital commerce, linked to the International Financial Centre in Ho Chi Minh City.

In logistics alone, TikTok said at the time that the expected scale of operations could reach 1-2 billion orders per year. For digital payments, TikTok proposed TikTok Payment to serve around 45 million users in Vietnam, while its digital commerce operations were expected to generate total transaction value of more than $10 billion annually.

By early April, TikTok Shop Vietnam was recorded among newly registered foreign-invested projects in Ho Chi Minh City, capitalised at $125 million.

This was one of the first concrete outcomes of discussions and working sessions between TikTok and Ho Chi Minh City authorities on the company’s plans to expand its operations and strengthen its investment presence in the city.

With Swift Logistics subsequently receiving its approval with total registered investment capital of $980 million, the combined registered investment capital of the two TikTok Shop Vietnam and Swift Logistics projects reached approximately $1.1 billion.

These developments are aligned with TikTok’s cooperation and investment plans discussed with Ho Chi Minh City in connection with ecosystem of Vietnam's International Financial Centre in the city. Rather than maintaining a model based solely on cross-border service provision, the plan aims to bring individual components of the ecosystem into operation in Vietnam, including digital commerce, logistics, and digital payments.

According to Ho Chi Minh City Department of Finance, the city attracted more than $10 billion in foreign investment in the first eight months, equivalent to 91.5 per cent of the full-year target and up 167.3 per cent on-year.

During the period, the city granted investment registration to 1,364 new foreign-invested projects with total registered capital of more than $3.73 billion. In addition, 1,296 cases involved foreign investors acquiring shares or contributing capital, with a combined value of nearly $2.8 billion.

Alongside expanding the scale of foreign investment, Ho Chi Minh City is also focusing on improving the quality of investment flows, accelerating project implementation, and prioritising high-tech, manufacturing, logistics, and digital infrastructure.

The Swift Logistics Co., Ltd. is expected to commence its operations in Ho Chi Minh City in November. Photo: Le Toan

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