Vietnam, Switzerland to cooperate on eco-industrial park development

Vietnam and Switzerland will cooperate in transforming industrial parks into eco-friendly ones and in building new facilities over the next five years (2024-2028).

An agreement to this effect was signed Wednesday by Vietnam’s Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).

The cooperation is part of the Global Eco-Industrial Parks Program (GEIPP) jointly run by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the SECO.

The collaboration is expected to attract investments from various sources, especially from the private sector, into new eco-industrial parks and to-be-transformed facilities.

This, in turn, will help Vietnam reduce environmental pollution and meet the sustainable development goals (SDGs) related to industrial parks, innovation and infrastructure.

As of 2022, Vietnam had 407 industrial parks – 292 operational and 115 under construction. The country also has 26 border gate economic zones in 21 localities and 18 coastal economic zones in 17 localities. These facilities have attracted over 10,000 domestic investment and 11,000 foreign investment projects, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Before Wednesday’s agreement, SECO had already helped industrial parks in Vietnam with implementing rules related to eco-friendly operations, emissions reduction, water and electricity savings, waste reuse, and deployment of the circular economic model.

Speaking at the event, Le Thanh Thao, country representative of the UNIDO in Vietnam, said UNIDO was committed to using 40 years of experience in helping Vietnam develop eco-industrial parks. Vietnam is one of five countries receiving assistance in the second phase of the GEIPP, she added.

Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Bich Ngoc said Vietnam needed international support, especially from Switzerland, in achieving sustainable and green growth by improving legal frameworks, workforce qualifications and infrastructure.

She called on Switzerland to help attract more investments into building new facilities, speeding up transformation of existing ones, deployment of the circular economy model and building an industrial park database.