Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang has approved the first phase investment of VSIP II Industrial Park in Dung Quat Economic Zone, Vietnam's central province of Quang Ngai, with an investment of VND3,737 billion ($154 million).
Per a decision dated December 22, the investor is VSIP Quang Ngai Co., Ltd., under Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park J.V. Co. Ltd. (VSIP). The 497.7-hectare project has been granted a 50-year license.
Provincial authorities have been tasked with building a detailed plan for the project’s construction and ensuring that local heritage and the environment are protected.
The construction of VSIP I Quang Ngai began in September 2013. So far, the facility has attracted foreign investments of over $1 billion from 36 businesses from the U.S., the Philippines, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Belgium, and mainland China, employing 29,000 people.
In February 2016, the facility began an expansion project of 100 hectares for a service-urban area, of which 24 hectares have been completed.
Vietnam’s first VSIP was set up in the southern province of Binh Duong in 1996 during the administration of then Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, late father of incumbent Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
The country is now home to 14 VSIPs, with work underway on VSIP Quang Tri in the eponymous central province. Work is also underway on VSIP Can Tho, the first in the Mekong Delta.