Sumitomo starts work on $116 mln industrial park project in central Vietnam

Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation on Wednesday broke ground on the first phase of Thang Long Thanh Hoa Industrial Park in the central province of Thanh Hoa, a $115.8 million project aimed at attracting high-tech and supporting industry investors.

The project is developed by Thang Long Thanh Hoa Industrial Park Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Sumitomo. The first phase will span 167 hectares in the former Thanh Hoa town and Trieu Son district.

The industrial park is designed as a modern manufacturing hub with synchronized technical infrastructure, targeting supporting industries, high-tech projects, and particularly Japanese companies and global investors linked to the Thang Long industrial park network in Vietnam.

At the groundbreaking ceremony, Mai Xuan Liem, standing Vice Chairman of the Thanh Hoa People’s Committee, urged provincial authorities and the Nghi Son Economic Zone and Industrial Parks Management Board to coordinate closely with the investor and contractors to address potential obstacles during project implementation.

He called on the developer and contractors to mobilize sufficient financial, human, and technical resources to ensure construction quality and schedule while complying with Vietnamese regulations. They should also maintain workplace safety and environmental protection, while minimizing impacts on local residents’ livelihoods.

Kenta Kawanabe, general director of the Thang Long Industrial Park Corporation, said Thanh Hoa offers abundant and skilled labor, a strategic location, and convenient transport infrastructure for industrial development.

The strong support from provincial leaders, agencies, and local communities reinforces the firm’s confidence in developing Thang Long Thanh Hoa Industrial Park into a model industrial park capable of attracting high-quality secondary investors, he added.

Sumitomo’s presence in Vietnam

Sumitomo Corporation is among Japan’s largest conglomerates, with operations spanning manufacturing, energy, smart cities, and electronic components.

In Vietnam, the group is involved in a wide range of projects, from industrial parks and urban developments to energy infrastructure.

In addition to the Thanh Hoa project, Sumitomo is the developer of the Thang Long 1, 2 and 3 industrial parks in Hanoi, Hung Yen province, and Phu Tho province, respectively. Together, these parks have attracted more than $6 billion in investment from tenants which created nearly 100,000 jobs

In infrastructure, Sumitomo is also engaged in Ho Chi Minh City’s Metro Line 1 as EPC contractor for Package 2 and has served as the main contractor for the Pha Lai Thermal Power Plant in the former Hai Duong province (now part of Hai Phong city after an administrative merger last July) and the Duyen Hai 3 Extension Thermal Power Plant in the former Tra Vinh province (now part of Vinh Long province).

In energy, the group inaugurated the 1,432 MW Van Phong 1 BOT coal-fired power plant in Khanh Hoa province in 2024, a project worth $2.58 billion and the largest FDI project in the province.

Sumitomo also invested, together with EDF (France) and JERA (Japan), in the Phu My 2.2 Power Plant, a 715-MW BOT (build-operate-transfer) project. After 20 years of operation, the plant was transferred to Vietnam Electricity (EVN) in early 2025.

Also in 2025, Sumitomo acquired a 49% stake in Mekong Electric Power Engineering and Development JSC (MEE), which operates the Dak Di hydropower cluster in the former Nam Tra My district of the former Quang Nam province (now Danang city), from GreenSpark Group, a domestic renewable energy developer based in Lao Cai province.

Among Sumitomo’s projects in Vietnam, the North Hanoi Smart City project is the largest real estate development in Hanoi, with a total investment of $4.2 billion. Launched in August 2025 in Dong Anh, it is being developed in partnership with Vietnam’s BRG Group and is expected to be completed by the end of 2032.