HCMC proposes new industrial park to lure major investors

Ho Chi Minh City authorities are seeking government permission to have a 700-hectare industrial park in Binh Chanh district added to the country's master industrial park development plan until 2025.

City Vice Chairman Vo Van Hoan recently sent a document to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, saying the proposal aims to cater to demand for large-scale plots of industrial land from foreign companies.

Moreover, heavyweights like Logos Group, TTI, Goldman Sachs, Einhell, and Quantum have expressed their interest in developing industrial park (IP) infrastructure.

The entire land for the IP project, named Pham Van Hai, is not rice-growing land and has been deserted for many years.

Located near the proposed Pham Van Hai are Le Minh Xuan IP in Binh Chanh district, Tan Tao IP in Binh Tan district, along with Tan Do, Tan Duc, and Hanh Phuc in Duc Hoa district, Long An province. This complex will make it easier for enterprises to synergize throughout the product supply chain.

The new project will feature convenient traffic connections and infrastructure, with access to major highways like Highway 1A, HCMC-Trung Luong Highway, and Ring Road 3, which links the park to the Mekong Delta province of Long An, a manufacturing hub in southern Vietnam.

Mechanical engineering, electrical equipment, electronics, industrial robotics, precision mechanics, information technology, telecommunications, and microchips are among the sectors targeted by Pham Van Hai IP.

According to Hua Quoc Hung, head of HCMC Industrial and Export Processing Zones Management Board (Hepza), HCMC has not had a new industrial park for a long time, whereas the industrial land fund and the number of industrial parks in neighboring provinces are far bigger.

"There are only around 300 hectares that can be leased and used as industrial land at this time, while the city's plan calls for 5,800 hectares," he said.

Under HCMC's development plan until 2020, the city would have 23 industrial parks and export processing zones, but only 19 of them have been built so far, accounting for 76.78% of the planned land area.

The industrial land available for lease in these 19 existing industrial parks and export processing zones reached 66% of the total, and the occupancy rate of 17 operational ones was 72.17%.

Le Thi Bich Loan, deputy of HCMC Hi-Tech Park Management Board, said numerous European, American, and Korean businesses are relocating to HCMC, seeking hi-tech parks, as Covid-19 has been put under control, but the city's land fund is depleted, particularly commercial property for manufacturing.