Vinh Phuc Industrial Zones Management Board: Collaborative Efforts for Sustainable IZ Development

On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Vinh Phuc Industrial Zones Management Board, Vietnam Business Forum’s reporter interviewed Mr. Ha Dinh Nha, Director of the Board, on the achievements and development orientations of Vinh Phuc industrial zones (IZ) in the past 25 years and the coming time.

Mr. Ha Dinh Nha, Director of the Vinh Phuc Industrial Zones Management Board, addresses the Board’s 25th anniversary

Could you please briefly introduce the operation and development of the Vinh Phuc Industrial Zones Management Board since its establishment?

Based on the proposal of the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People’s Committee, on September 29, 1998, the Prime Minister issued Decision 190/1998/QD-TTg on establishing the Vinh Phuc Industrial Zones Management Board assigned to perform State management of concentrated industrial zones in Vinh Phuc according to Decree 36/1997/ND-CP dated April 24, 1997 of the Government on Regulations on Industrial Zones, Export Processing Zones and High-tech Zones. This was the first legal basis for the formation, operation and development of the Vinh Phuc Industrial Zones Management Board as it is today.

When it was established, the Vinh Phuc Industrial Zones Management Board had only seven employees, led by the Vice Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee cum the Board Director. It had two departments - the Administration Office and the General Planning Department. After 25 years of development, the board, directly administered by the Provincial People’s Committee, has a complete organizational structure and apparatus with 50 employees working in five professional departments and the Investment Support and Service Center.

During the past 25 years, we have received direct and regular support and direction from the Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial People’s Council and the Provincial People’s Committee, along with the timely support and guidance of central authorities, especially the Ministry of Planning and Investment (Department of Economic Zones Management); the close coordination of provincial and local agencies and the effort of all employees, the Vinh Phuc Industrial Zones Management Board has continuously demonstrated its responsibility and creativity in carrying out its tasks and building the board into a strong team with many remarkable and proud achievements.

Along with the development of industrial parks, the staff of the board has increased in both quantity and quality, gradually asserted its position, role, and responsibility as a specialized advisor to the Provincial People’s Committee and an active enabler of the province’s industrial development. The board always successfully accomplishes its assigned tasks. The board and its employees have been awarded many noble trophies from the Party, the government, central agencies and the province. In particular, the board was conferred the Second- and Third-Class Labor Orders by the President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Could you tell us more specifically how the Vinh Phuc Industrial Zones Management Board has performed its roles in building and developing industrial parks in Vinh Phuc province over the 25-year journey?

During the past 25 years, the board has effectively performed its role of advising on planning, building and developing industrial parks, helping form a coherent system of industrial parks, not only to meet the province’s socioeconomic development requirements but also to attract secondary investors.

When it was established, Vinh Phuc had only Kim Hoa Industrial Park - Phase 1 (50 ha). After 25 years, Vinh Phuc province was approved by the Prime Minister to develop 19 industrial zones with a total planned area of 5,487.31 ha. Among them, 16 were established with a total land area of 3,168.02 ha and three are being prepared for construction. Currently, eight are in operation, fully leased by secondary investment projects.

In addition to planning industrial zones, the board has advised the province to gradually improve technical infrastructure inside and outside industrial zones to create infrastructure uniformity; supported the appearance and convenience and increased the attractiveness of industrial parks to better meet investors’ needs. In particular, the active use of available land funds with reasonable infrastructure rental prices has created competitive advantages over industrial parks in neighboring provinces and cities and caught the special attention of foreign investors. The board has gradually created a unique, highly competitive investment environment.

As for fully occupied industrial zones, the board always pays attention to solving problems for secondary investors to create a good impression on new investors. As for industrial zones under construction or without infrastructure developers, the board actively proposed to the Provincial People’s Committee; actively coordinated with relevant agencies to support infrastructure developers to speed up site clearance to create the available land fund for new investment projects; and actively sought potential infrastructure investors for planned industrial zones.

Currently, to meet development needs and new related legal regulations (like Planning Law and Decree 35/2022/ND-CP), the Vinh Phuc Industrial Zones Management Board incorporated the industrial zone development plan into the provincial master plan in the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050. This content is being appraised by Vinh Phuc province and submitted to the Prime Minister for approval. According to the draft Vinh Phuc Provincial Plan for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050, Vinh Phuc will have eight more industrial zones by 2050 (bringing its total industrial zones to 27) with a total land area of 10,000 ha.

In addition, the board has effectively carried out investment promotion and improved the quality of investment attraction; encouraged, supported and created a favorable environment for enterprises to invest and do business successfully in industrial zones. Over the past 25 years, to achieve today’s results, the board has constantly actively sought and directly participated in many foreign investment promotions to introduce the province’s investment environment in general and its industrial parks in particular to foreign corporations. The board has worked directly with many foreign partners and business delegations from South Korea, Japan, China (Taiwan), the United States, India and Singapore seeking for investment opportunities in industrial zones to understand their investment needs and propose the province to offer areas that the province encourages investment.

The board has actively connected with international investment consultants and business representatives (in Europe, America and Asia), business associations and companies in Vietnam and foreign countries to attract investors with financial capacity, advanced technologies from Japan, South Korea, the United States and France as well as multinational corporations. With those efforts, over the past 25 years, investors from 20 countries and territories have come to invest in the province’s industrial zones, including giant firms like Sumitomo, Honda, Toyota, Piaggio, Foxconn and Compal.

Moreover, the Vinh Phuc Industrial Zones Management Board always supports businesses in tackling their difficulties to develop further and performs the State management of post-licensed projects. Like investment attraction and industrial zone development planning, the management of post-licensed investment projects is defined as an important task. The board regularly monitors, exchanges information, supports investors, urges the implementation progress of investment projects, coordinates with sectors at all levels to promptly resolve difficulties relating to investment procedures, creates a favorable, transparent, stable and equal business environment for investors, and provides best conditions for investors to carry out their projects.

To further boost investment attraction and sustainable development of industrial zones, what effective tasks and solutions will the board implement in the coming time?

Based on the general goals of the province, to enhance its position and role and boost investment attraction and sustainable development of industrial zones, the Vinh Phuc Industrial Zones Management Board will focus on the following specific solutions:

First, seriously review and revise the planning of established industrial zones, invest in building industrial zones in good locations, develop specialized industrial zones as stated in Decree 35/2022/ND-CP dated May 28, 2022 of the Government on regulations on management of industrial zones and economic zones; improve the quality of industrial zone infrastructure, ensure the synchronization of technical infrastructure, social infrastructure and public utilities that serve industrial zones; connect infrastructure inside and outside industrial zones; call and attract worker housing investment projects; build cultural institutions such as cultural houses, schools, clinics and parking lots in areas where industrial zones are located.

Second, improve the quality of investment flows into industrial zones, prioritize and selectively attract projects/industries with environmentally friendly modern, advanced technologies, key growth-driving industries and industries with local advantageous production; work with infrastructure investors to woo investors by launching investment promotion in potential markets.

Third, strengthen post-licensed investor support; reinforce coordination of provincial agencies to conduct effective inspection of post-licensed investment, construction, labor and environmental protection in industrial zones; guide businesses to adopt universal standards and processes to ensure that tenants can apply on their own in the most convenient way while enhancing compliant responsibility of businesses and regulatory agencies; warn about the risk of law violation instead of imposing sanctions and settlement.

Fourth, further advance administrative reform, especially apply the single-window mechanism for administrative procedures conducted with the Vinh Phuc Industrial Zones Management Board. As more projects and investors are arriving in the province and the personnel is not always sufficient, provincial leaders need to help the board to strengthen its personnel apparatus, and provide enough authority and resources for administering industrial zones under the single-window mechanism to deserve the increasing importance of industrial zones in the province’s socioeconomic development.

Thank you so much!

By Nguyet Tham, Vietnam Business Forum