Ministry calls for approval of new Vietnam-Singapore industrial park in northern Vietnam

The Ministry of Planning and Investment has urged Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to approve a 333.4-hectare Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) project in the northern province of Thai Binh.

The $211.9 million project will be located in Thai Thuy district. Its investor is the Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park and Township Development JSC, a joint venture between Singapore’s Sembcorp Development and Vietnam’s Becamex IDC.

The 50-year project was appraised in consultation with Thai Binh authorities and other ministries, the planning ministry said in a report submitted to the prime minister.

The project's implementation must take no more than 36 months from the date of land delivery. The investor can only implement it after Thai Binh authorities are granted industrial real estate quota for the 2021-2025 period and land use conversion of rice planting areas is approved, it added.

Provincial authorities said at a Tuesday meeting that they fully support the project. Ngo Dong Hai, Secretary of the province’s Party Committee, said VSIP was a successful industrial park model in Vietnam, having set up similar facilities in other parts of the country.

The project will boost investment into the province, particularly the Thai Binh Economic Zone, he said, asking relevant agencies to support the project’s development as soon as the investment certificate was granted.

Sembcorp entered Vietnam in 1996 with the first VSIP in the southern province of Binh Duong. The group has since developed 12 industrial parks in Vietnam. The IPs are located in Bac Ninh, Hai Phong and Hai Duong in the north; Nghe An, Quang Tri and Quang Ngai in the central region; and Binh Duong and Can Tho in the south.

When Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh visited Singapore in February, Sembcorp Industries announced new collaborations in sustainable urban development in Vietnam by building five more VSIPs valued at approximately $1 billion. The parks will be smart and sustainable with low carbon footprints, Sembcorp said.

Thai Binh's index of industrial production (IIP) grew 14.3% year-on-year in the first seven months of this year, according to provincial data. The growth was driven by a 23.2% increase in mining, 3.6% in manufacturing and processing, 82.4% in electricity production and distribution, and others. The northern province outperformed the country's average with Vietnam's IIP decreasing 0.7% in the period due to prolonged economic headwinds and weak demand worldwide, the General Statistics Office said.