Determined to Create Green, Sustainable Industrial Environment

Da Nang is known as a city with industrial development and deep global integration in the direction of modernisation and civilisation. To further understand the achievements of the past years as well as the destination of the local industry in the coming time, Vietnam Business Forum has an interview with Mr Pham Viet Hung, Director of Da Nang Industrial and Export Processing Zone Authority.

To create the premise for industrial development in the direction of industrialisation and modernisation, Da Nang has implemented the master plans regarding the industrial parks (IPs) and the export processing zones (EPZs). What are the investment attraction achievements so far?
Da Nang has six industrial parks, including Hoa Khanh Industrial Park (394 ha) and Da Nang Aquaculture Service Industrial Park (50.63 ha), occupancy rate of 100 per cent; Hoa Cam Industrial Park- phase 1 (149.84 ha), occupancy rate of 86 per cent; Lien Chieu Industrial Park (289.35 ha) and Hoa Khanh Industrial Park (132.60 ha), occupancy rate of over 65 per cent. Regarding the Da Nang Industrial Park (50.1ha), the Prime Minister has agreed on the master plan for the development of industrial parks in the whole country up to 2020, pursuant to Official Letter 499-TTg-CN and changed the land use purpose of Da Nang Industrial Park to urban land. Thus, the total area of current industrial land is more than 1,010 ha. To date, the city has attracted 447 projects, including 110 foreign-invested FDI projects, attracting more than VND15 trillion and over US$1.08 billion. The total number of employees working in enterprises is 73,300, of which more than 41,300 are employed in FDI projects.

The success of the project has also been strengthened by the Da Nang Industrial and Export Processing Zone Authority, which has always strengthened the state management of investment projects. It is supporting investors to develop their businesses and promptly take measures to remove difficulties for nearly 30 projects to rehabilitate production and invest in new industries. In parallel with the positive reform of administrative procedures, the City discloses the unit price of the land rent; coordinating with the local authorities, police and authorities in the work of security and order, food hygiene and safety.

In the development process, Da Nang People's Committee has agreed on the establishment of new industrial parks and has been approved by the Prime Minister in the Official Letter 555/TTg-CN on the adjustment, supplementation and planning of the overall development of industrial parks including Hoa Nhon Industrial Park (393.57 ha), Hoa Cam Industrial Park - Phase II (119 ha), and Hoa Ninh Industrial Park (400 ha). This creates additional land funds to attract investment and promote the industrial production.

What is the positive impact of innovation, technology transfer and management, as well as economic restructuring in industrial parks?
In reality, most of the projects are evaluated by investors during the operation; especially, the machinery and technology of the projects have been upgraded. At the same time, the infrastructure of existing industrial parks has been fully invested. Currently, the Authority is cooperating with relevant units to set up procedures and call for socialisation of investment in developing infrastructure of new industrial parks according to regulations. By 2019, new industrial parks will be put into operation to call for investment projects.

Along with the development of green-sustainable industrialisation and modernisation of Da Nang, the Authority will push local industrial activities in a modern manner to attract environment friendly industries, and turn Da Nang industrial parks to be a centre of processing, manufacturing and mechanical processing. The city is to build Da Nang into a modern-oriented city by 2020 and to become a hi-tech centre, supporting branch of the Central Vietnam and the Central Highlands and the whole country with the development of science and technology, research, design, manufacturing and testing centres and experiment with new products and participation strongly in global supply chains by 2030.

To ensure the balanced development of production and environment, what solutions have you proposed?
In parallel with the development of industrial parks, environmental protection, ensuring harmony between production activities and the surrounding environment in industrial parks are always of special concern. Specifically, in the process of reviewing the policy and granting investment registration certificates, the Authority regularly consults with concerned agencies in order to evaluate the technology of projects that are likely to cause environmental pollution. The City resolutely does not propose to issue investment certificates for projects with backward technology, and potential danger of environmental pollution into industrial parks.

The Authority also assumes the prime responsibility for coordinating with relevant units to regularly inspect and review rainwater and waste water collection systems and ensures that the concentrated waste water treatment stations are operating in a stable manner and the output wastewater meets the prescribed standards. They also take initiative in working with relevant units to promptly solve environmental problems arising, avoiding impacts on the environment and labourers. The Authority also collaborates with the Economic Zones Authority under the Ministry of Planning and Investment to kick off the eco-industrial park initiatives towards a sustainable industrial park model in Vietnam. The objective of the project is to build a pilot eco-industrial park model in three large industrial parks, including Hoa Khanh Industrial Park, Da Nang, as a basis for replication across the country. At the same time, the Authority closely coordinates with the Environment and Natural Resources Department in intensifying post-environmental impacts, assessment and completion of environmental treatment works of projects before putting them into operation in order to prevent, minimise adverse impacts on the environment and avoid the generation of sources of environmental pollution in industrial parks.

What are the basic strategies of industrial parks in the coming time?

"Listen, Be Companion" is an important factor to call for industrial parks, creating conditions for corporations, large enterprises in the country and abroad to invest in industrial parks. The Authority is also looking forward to calling for investment in the development of synchronous infrastructure in new industrial parks, supporting environment friendly industries, building social facilities for industrial parks with priority areas such as automation and mechatronics technologies, new material technologies, supporting fields of mechanical engineering, precision mechanics, and electricity-electronics. This helps build a transparent, open, and highly competitive investment environment, ensuring security and safety. Besides, the Authority also focuses on simplifying administrative procedures, publicising vacant land lots to call for investment, and improving communication skills and behaviour of cadres and civil servants.