Dung Quat set to become green, smart economic zone

The Dung Quat Economic Zone will be developed into a specialized, green, smart and sustainable economic zone, and continue to be the driving force for socio-economic growth in Quang Ngai province and the central key economic region, said a local official.

Ha Hoang Viet Phuong, head of the Dung Quat Economic Zone and Quang Ngai Industrial Parks Authority, made the statement at the Vietnam Industrial Park Forum 2023: Towards Green Growth hosted by The Investor on Thursday.

Dung Quat, covering 45,332 hectares, is a multi-sector and multi-field economic zone. It houses a petrochemical refinery, a national energy center, mechanical engineering – metallurgy facilities and a major regional logistics center to effectively exploit Dung Quat deep-water port and Chu Lai airport.

After more than 26 years of development, Dung Quat has made remarkable progress and is considered one of the most pioneering and successful economic zones in Vietnam. So far, it has attracted 344 projects with total registered capital of about $18 billion, including 61 FDI projects worth $2 billion.

Of the figure, $10.5 billion has been disbursed, with 250 projects coming into operation, contributing about $1 billion or 80% of total provincial budget revenue and creating 66,670 jobs.

By 2030, Quang Ngai province plans to develop 10 industrial parks (IPs), including six in the Dung Quat EZ, with a combined area of 6,648 hectares. These IPs are set to follow the models of service-urban-industrial complexes, support IPs, eco-industrial parks, high-tech parks.

To achieve this goal, the authority has set out a number of solutions, including preparing and submitting for approval zoning plans for IPs and urban-service areas; and building a list of projects calling for investment, focusing on processing and manufacturing industries with high added value, and high and environmentally-friendly technologies.

The authority plans to attract investors with smart factory designs and advanced technologies, and those who use renewable energy sources such as rooftop solar power.

Mechanisms and policies will be issued to encourage energy saving activities, efficient use of resources, and industrial symbiosis in economic zones and IPs; transform growth model towards greening economic sectors and promoting circular economy development.

The authority will build a database of input and output factors of enterprises’ production activities in the economic zone to integrate into national and provincial databases for emissions monitoring.

It also looking to develop “industrial tourism” by combining tours of outstanding factories, companies and production facilities in the IPs and EZs with tourist attractions inside and outside the province.