Hung Yen Industrial Zones Authority: In Close Partnership with Businesses

Hung Yen province-based industrial zones are being expanded and chosen by companies. With the spirit of opening cooperation, Hung Yen Industrial Zones Authority always accompanies and supports investors to carry out and operate their projects, said Mr. Pham Truong Tam, Director of Hung Yen Industrial Zones Authority, in an interview granted to Vietnam Business Forum’s reporter.

Despite complicated COVID-19 epidemic developments, Hung Yen province-based industrial zones have, to date, attracted 446 projects with a total registered investment capital of over US$5.5 billion, including 251 FDI projects with US$4.25 billion. Could you please introduce some impressive outcomes?

Needless to say, local industrial zones made impressive results in investment attraction thanks to the close and firm direction of the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People's Committee, along with the active engagement of all tiers of authorities and the support of local people. The effective implementation of the single-window mechanism at the industrial zone authority, aligned with administrative reform and quick and accurate settlement of requirements by industrial zones and tenants have contributed to improving the business investment environment.

Industrial zones are well located to ensure industrial development with external infrastructure and urbanization and well provided with traffic, electricity, water and social infrastructure serving industrial workers and local residents. Infrastructure investors are competent and experienced in managing and operating industrial zones and capable of attracting investors. Infrastructure construction investment is synchronous, modern and well-planned to meet space and infrastructure requirements for investment projects, and ensure convenience for investors to carry out their projects and run business operations. Thang Long II Industrial Park is typically one of the most synchronous and modern industrial zones in Vietnam, capable of serving many foreign investors, especially Japanese. The park is housing 101 projects with a total registered investment capital of about US$2.6 billion.

Since the beginning of the year, 25 more projects have been brought into operation, bringing total operational projects in industrial parks to 374, accounting for 82.4% of valid projects. As much as nearly US$4.5 billion of registered capital was disbursed, accounting for 80%. Investment projects in industrial parks have made important contributions to local industrialization and economic restructuring and socioeconomic development, created jobs for over 60,000 workers, and paid about VND2,300 billion of tax in 2020.

What specific solutions and actions did Hung Yen Industrial Zones Authority take to achieve the so-called “dual goals” in 2020?

The globally complicated development of COVID-19 epidemic without any clear sign of being controlled and global economic downturn significantly affected investment in Hung Yen province in general and its industrial zones in particular. Carrying out directions of the Prime Minister and Hung Yen province, focusing on “double goals” of “boosting socioeconomic recovery and development to achieve the highest-ever growth and decisively prevent the epidemic”, Hung Yen Industrial Zones Authority has strictly adopted epidemic control and social distancing measures, and proactively disseminated and guided tenants to obey epidemic prevention measures as guided by the Ministry of Health and ward off epidemic outbreaks in industrial zones.

The authority has actively coordinated with tenants to review labor resources, especially foreign workers, and advised the Provincial People's Committee to tightly manage foreign workers; apply quarantine measures to foreign experts and technicians entering Vietnam to ensure enough personnel for tenants to run business activities.

Would you be kind enough to tell us investment attraction targets and industrial zone development goals for Hung Yen province in the coming time?

In 2020, the authority consulted with the Provincial People's Committee to ask the Prime Minister for adding three industrial parks (affiliated with Ly Thuong Kiet Service Urban Zone) covering 566.64 ha, into the Vietnam Industrial Park Development Plan to 2020 and completed expansion plans for Yen My II Industrial Park (216 ha) and Thang Long II Industrial Park (180.5 ha) to submit to the Prime Minister for approval.

In the coming period, the authority will continue speeding up infrastructure construction investment in industrial zones, accelerating administrative reform and improving the business investment environment in order to woo investors to industrial zones. It will strengthen investment promotion and attraction, with focus placed on projects with modern environment-friendly technologies that make high added value and positively contribute to local fiscal revenue, growth and economic restructuring to support industrialization and modernization of Hung Yen province. The agency will concentrate on solving difficulties and facilitating enterprises to develop business operations; strengthen construction management and environmental protection in industrial zones; establish and expand 3-5 new industrial zones by 2025; complete infrastructure construction in three more industrial zones; and draw an additional US$2.5 billion investment capital into industrial zones.

At the same time, to raise the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) and promote the past good performance, the authority will focus on speeding up the progress of preparing and submitting development planning for approval. The Planning Law integrates industrial zone planning into the provincial planning and ensures the legal basis for investors to invest in industrial zone infrastructure construction. The agency will solicit support for infrastructure investors to accelerate site clearance and land compensation to quickly hand land to infrastructure investors to build synchronous technical infrastructure and provide premises for new investment projects.

To make good planning, industrial development planning must align industrial development with external infrastructure. There is a need for incentive mechanisms for industrial zone infrastructure investment projects.

Source: Vietnam Business Forum