Singapore-backed VSIP to build two more industrial parks in northern Vietnam

Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park Joint Venture (VSIP) plans to begin work soon on two more VSIP facilities in the northern provinces of Thai Binh and Nam Dinh.

At a Wednesday meeting in Thai Binh, Lee Ark Boon, CEO of Singapore’s Sembcorp Development, one of the joint venture partners, asked provincial authorities to facilitate the project implementation.

The joint venture plans to begin the construction as soon as site clearance is completed, he said.

Ngo Dong Hai, a member of the Central Party Committee and chief of Thai Binh Party Committee, affirmed that the province would support VSIP with administrative procedures and site clearance towards allowing work to start in October 2024.

According to a recent report sent by the province to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, VSIP is awaiting environmental approval for its Thai Binh facility.

The $211.87 million industrial park will span 344.67 hectares in An Tan and Thuy Truong communes, Thai Thuy district.

Once operational, the developer aims to attract investors in manufacturing, processing and industrial services with particular focus on high technology, supporting industries, new materials, farm produce and seafood processing. The focus will also be on industries with high added value and are energy efficient and environmentally friendly.

1,100-hectare IP

In a meeting with Nam Dinh authorities the same day, Boon spoke about investing in the 1,100-hectare Hai Long Industrial Park.

The joint venture hopes for cooperation from provincial authorities to complete administrative procedures in 2024 for work to begin in June 2025, he said.

Pham Gia Tuc, a Central Party Committee member and chief of the Nam Dinh Party Committee, highlighted the province’s advantages, including an abundant workforce of over one million people with a big proportion of highly skilled workers.

Nam Dinh will shorten administrative procedures for the industrial park, Tuc assured the developer.

In March 2023, Nam Dinh authorities had expressed their willingness to host a VSIP facility in the province and sought to benefit from the industrial development experience of Binh Duong, the southern province which hosts Vietnam’s first VSIP facility.

Last month, Sembcorp said it would add three industrial parks under the VSIP model to its portfolio in Vietnam, raising the VSIP network to 18 facilities covering 11,588 hectares.

The three new ones were the 333-hectare VSIP Thai Binh in the northern province of Thai Binh; 498-hectare VSIP Quang Ngai II in the central province of Quang Ngai; and the 468-hectare Becamex-VSIP Binh Thuan in the central province of Binh Thuan.

The joint venture recorded a post-tax profit of VND1,703 billion ($66.9 million) in 2023, down 24.6% year-on-year, according to the firm’s filing with the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX).

VSIP is a joint venture between Vietnamese real estate developer Becamex and Singapore’s Sembcorp Development.