Sembcorp gets license to build 294-ha industrial park in Mekong Delta

Singapore’s Sembcorp Industries received an investment license Monday to develop a new industrial park in Can Tho city, its first in Vietnam's Mekong Delta.

The 293.7-hectare IP will be operated by Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) Group, a joint venture between Sembcorp and Becamex, a major Vietnamese industrial developer.

The investment license was presented to Sembcorp Development CEO Kelvin Teo, also co-chairman of VSIP Group, in Hanoi in the presence of visiting Singaporean President Halimah Yacob and Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

Teo said in a release: “Sembcorp, through the VSIP Group, has a portfolio of 11 large-scale developments spread across eight provinces in Vietnam. We are glad to receive the continuing trust of the Vietnam government, to support the country’s economic progress and create meaningful social impact.

Leveraging our expertise and proven track record to deliver sustainable urban solutions, we look forward to enabling new engines of growth for Vietnam.”

Can Tho is one of five centrally-managed cities in Vietnam. The other four are Hanoi, Hai Phong, Danang, and Ho Chi Minh City.

For the Mekong region’s hub, the government has announced a new master plan approving its socio-economic development for the period 2021-2030, with a vision toward making Can Tho a center for trade and services in the delta region by 2030.

Can Tho has the potential to build on its established aquaculture and agriculture industries, and increase its importance as a mega food-processing and distribution hub, with infrastructure investments planned under the new master plan.

VSIP Group has not disclosed the estimated investment for VSIP Can Tho, which will be its 12th industrial park project in Vietnam.

The same day, Singapore’s President Yacob toured VSIP Bac Ninh in Bac Ninh province bordering Hanoi. The 635-hectare integrated township and IP broke ground in 2007, and has so far attracted 125 companies with $2.5 billion in combined investment capital and created about 40,000 jobs, according to Sembcorp.

The Singaporean President is set to come to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s southern economic hub, during her working visit to Vietnam this time.

Singapore is the leading trade and investment partner of Vietnam. The two countries' bilateral trade in the year to the end of August reached $6.3 billion, up 16.8% year-on-year, according to Vietnam’s government data.