Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park on northern border gets green light

Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai on Monday approved an investment plan for a Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) project in the northern province of Lang Son, which borders China.

The project, also known as Huu Lung Industrial Park, has total investment of $274.67 million, of which $41.2 million will be provided by VSIP Group, the project's investor and a joint venture between Singapore’s Sembcorp Development and Vietnam’s Becamex IDC. The project will last for 50 years from May 15, 2023.

The 599.76-hectare project will be situated in Huu Lung district, and the investor will be required to complete the project within five years. Its first phase will cover 599.76 ha, the second phase 250 ha, and the third 149.76 ha.

VSIP Group must fulfill all the tasks related to the conversion of forest lands and paddy fields in the area before proceeding with the project. The project will affect 132.74 hectares of planted forests.

In August 2022, VSIP Group, a leading industrial park and township developer in Vietnam, signed a memorandum of understanding with Lang Son province for the construction of the facility. Lang Son province, which shares a border with China, allowed VSIP Group to survey the project site in March 2021.

VSIP Group has developed 12 industrial parks in Vietnam so far. The industrial parks are located in Bac Ninh, Hai Phong and Hai Duong in the north; Nghe An, Quang Tri and Quang Ngai in the central region; and Binh Duong and Can Tho in the south.

During Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's visit to Singapore in February, the Vietnamese government granted Sembcorp and Becamex an investment license to develop the 500-hectare VSIP II in Nghe An province. The license is an extension of the successful 750-hectare VSIP Nghe An I established in 2015.

In January, Sembcorp announced it would build the third VSIP in Binh Duong province as a zero-emissions industrial park, the first of its kind in the country.

Lang Son's index of industrial production (IIP) declined by 0.24% year-on-year in the first four months of 2023 year, according to local data. The result was driven by a rise of 5.63% in the manufacturing-processing sector, a decrease of 7.37% in electricity production and distribution, and a decline of 4.17% in the mining sector.

Some key products in the period included 202,570 tons of coal, up 1.61% year-on-year; 433,960 tons of cement, up 12.59%; and 306 million kWh of electricity, up 1.28%.