Sumitomo okayed to build 4th industrial park in Vietnam

With an industrial park to develop in the central province of Thanh Hoa, Japan's Sumitomo will expand its industrial real estate portfolio in Vietnam to four projects amid rising FDI inflows.

The Thanh Hoa People's Committee recently granted in-principle approval for the Thang Long Thanh Hoa Industrial Park (phase 1) project, with Sumitomo as the investor.

Accordingly, the project will cover 167 hectares and have investment capital of VND2,917 billion, or about $115.8 million, of which the investor's contribution will account for 15%.

Sumitomo will contribute the capital in cash, within 90 days from the date of being granted the enterprise registration certificate.

The project will be implemented in Dong Yen and Dong Van communes of Thanh Hoa town and Dong Tien and Dong Thang communes of Trieu Son district.

It will have a 50-year life span, from the date the investor receives a land allocation decision or a land lease decision from the state.

The project must be put into operation within no more than 36 months from the date the investor is allocated or leased land by the state.

Sumitomo will coordinate with relevant authorities for issuance of an investment registration certificate.

According to the planning of Thanh Hoa for the period of 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050, the province will have two economic zones, 19 industrial parks, and 126 industrial clusters.

Sumitomo Group is a prominent FDI enterprise in Vietnam, having invested in many diverse fields, including residential real estate, urban railways, industrial parks (IPs), thermal power plants, and logistics.

The Japanese group is operating three IPs. Its first one is Thang Long Industrial Park in Hanoi, developed by Thang Long Industrial Park Corporation (TLIP).

Sumitomo owns a 58% stake in TLIP, while the Vietnamese partner Dong Anh Licogi Mechanical JSC holds the remaining.

Thang Long IP is located next to the Red River, in Dong Anh district. It was built in 1997 with a total investment of more than $90 million and covers 274 hectares. Most of the tenants are Japanese-invested such as Canon, MHI Aerospace, Kyoei Dietech Vietnam, and Panasonic Vietnam.

Thang Long Industrial Park II (TLIPII) was built in Yen My and My Hao districts, Hung Yen province - a neighbor of Hanoi, with the investor being Thang Long Industrial Park II Corporation.

TLIPII was established in November 2006, with an initial area of 346 hectares. In 2019, this industrial park was expanded by 181 hectares to 525 hectares, with a total investment of up to $221.4 million.

This is the industrial park with biggest number of Japanese enterprises in Vietnam, including big names like Kyocera, Daikin, Toto, and Panasonic.

The third IP is called Thang Long Vinh Phuc (TLIPIII), located in Binh Xuyen district, Vinh Phuc province.

Established in November 2015 with an area of 213 hectares and a total investment of about VND2 trillion ($77.06 million), this IP has a favorable location as it is not far from a Noi Bai-Lao Cai expressway intersection, Noi Bai international airport, the center of Hanoi, and Cai Lan deep-water port (Quang Ninh province).

In February, a representative of Sumitomo Group had a meeting with Tran Duy Dong, Chairman of Vinh Phuc People's Committee, to present the investment plan to build the second IP in this province.

Registered FDI in Vietnam hit $13.82 billion in the first four months of the year, up 39.9%, while disbursed capital reached $6.74 billion, up 7.3% and marking a record high in five years.