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Forum promotes development of smart and sustainable industrial parks

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The Vietnam Industrial Park Forum 2024, themed “The Era of Rising for Vietnam Industrial Park”, was officially held in Ho Chi Minh City on December 19.

Sponsored by IDH (Netherlands) and the Vietnam Industrial Real Estate Association (VIREA), the forum was organised by the Vietnam Industrial Zone portal (VIZ).

Currently, the country has about 400 industrial parks and export processing zones. The conversion of industrial parks towards green, high-tech, and environmentally friendly production is being promoted in order to meet Vietnam’s commitment to achieve zero net emissions by 2050.

The model of industrial parks and economic zones has affirmed its increasingly important position, contributing to improving the business environment and enhancing competitiveness as a solution to attract domestic and foreign investment resources.

Thereby, it has promoted the process of industrialisation and modernisation of the country and making positive contributions to Vietnam’s achievements in growth, development, and integration into the world economy.

Delegates speak at the Forum.

Delegates speak at the Forum.

However, the development of industrial parks in recent times has also revealed some limitations.

According to Nguyen Chi Toan, Vice Chairman of VIREA, the forum gathered many large-scale and professional industrial park infrastructure development units across the country.

As such, the organising committee hopes to receive many common shares and contributions for the purpose of building a more complete and clearer legal framework, together proposing feasible criteria to develop a new generation of industry in the direction of green-smart-sustainable development across the country.

At the forum, speakers and experts focused on exchanging and discussing about policies and laws, infrastructure transformation for sustainable development, promoting FDI investment, finance and capital markets, labour and employment, and ESG practices (environment-social-governance) in industrial parks.

At the same time, the participants shared experiences in implementing sustainable smart industrial park models, proposing solutions to contribute policies to transform Vietnam’s industrial parks from traditional models to sustainable smart industrial parks in the context of the country’s rising era and the world’s green transformation towards net zero emissions.

The forum has expanded its audience not only to industrial park investors but also to the fields of construction, construction materials, and finance, which are direct and indirect components contributing to the construction and development of ecological and sustainable industrial parks.

The Vietnam Industrial Park Forum 2024 aims to enhance dialogue and cooperation in the field of industrial park development and is also a place to create a bridge between domestic and international investors, enterprises, and state management agencies.

The Forum is also a place to connect industrial parks with investors and financial institutions to seek financial resources for sustainable projects.

At the same time, the event also promotes cooperation between government agencies, localities, international organisations, industrial parks and manufacturers to promote sustainable growth in industrial production in order to meet the common standards of manufacturing enterprises and large investors in the world.

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US giant Wanek Furniture to expand production capacity in Vietnam by 30% over 5 years

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Wanek Furniture Co., Ltd., a leading wood producer in the U.S., plans to expand its production capacity in Vietnam by 30% over the next five years, said Lien Andrew Michael, its vice president and general director of Asian factories.

At a meeting with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Chi Dung in Hanoi on Thursday, Michael stated that Wanek Furniture, a 100% US-invested subsidiary of Ashley Furniture Industries, Inc., has invested more than $200 million in Vietnam since 2008, with factories in the southern province of Binh Duong and the central province of Quang Ngai.

The company is now employing about 16,000 Vietnamese workers, he said, adding that its products have been shipped to 48 countries worldwide.

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Chi Dung and Lien Andrew Michael, Wanek Furniture's vice president and general director of Asian factories, in their meeting in Hanoi on March 13,2025. Photo curtesy of the government's news portal.

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Chi Dung and Lien Andrew Michael, Wanek Furniture’s vice president and general director of Asian factories, in their meeting in Hanoi on March 13,2025. Photo curtesy of the government’s news portal.

Dung welcomed Wanek’s plan to expand investment in Vietnam in the next five years. He affirmed that Vietnam will continue to improve its institutional framework and create favorable conditions for foreign investors, including those from the U.S., to engage in sustainable and long-term business operations in the country.

The Deputy PM urged the American firm to enhance cooperation with Vietnamese businesses to help Vietnam integrate more deeply into the global value chain.

He suggested Wanek continue to exchange information and coordinate with Vietnamese authorities to manage risks arising from the U.S.’s new trade policies.

“Wanek and the American business community should raise their voices to encourage the U.S. government to continue promoting relations with Vietnam and to minimize policies that could negatively impact the bilateral investment and trade ties,” Dung noted.

Appreciating Wanek’s contributions to the socio-economic development of Vietnam and the Vietnam-U.S. relationship, the Deputy PM emphasized that the U.S. is one of Vietnam’s key strategic partners, especially in the areas of trade and investment.

He affirmed that Vietnam aims to maintain and develop a harmonious, sustainable, and mutually beneficial economic cooperation with the U.S.

“Vietnam is always ready to cooperate in reducing the trade deficit the U.S. is incurring by encouraging businesses to increase imports of goods from the U.S., such as aircraft, LNG, and agricultural products,” he stressed.

Dung also confirmed that Vietnam is willing to engage with U.S. authorities to enhance mutual understanding and jointly address issues of mutual concern, while also promoting negotiations for a bilateral agreement to reduce tariffs and facilitate trade cooperation.

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Developing eco-industrial parks to attract FDI

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By 2030, about 40-50% of provinces and cities are expected to convert traditional industrial parks into eco-industrial parks, and 8-10% of localities will have plans to build new eco-industrial parks to plan and attract investment industries gradually.

In reality, industrial parks that develop sustainably are becoming the selection criteria for foreign investors with economic benefits and responsibility to the social community. In that flow, industrial parks in Vietnam face a trend of comprehensive transformation to retain investors and attract new investment projects, especially high-tech and large-scale projects.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment has just coordinated with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) to sign a project document on replicating the eco-industrial park approach to promote circular economy in Vietnam.

The project aims to promote the implementation of circular economy in enterprises in industrial parks, reduce the environmental impact of industrial production, and adapt to climate change.

Director of the Department of Economic Zones Management under the Ministry of Planning and Investment Le Thanh Quan said that since 2015, the Ministry of Planning and Investment and UNIDO have piloted the conversion of several traditional industrial parks into eco-industrial park models in four localities: Hai Phong, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City, and Dong Nai. In turn, 90 enterprises were supported with resource efficiency and cleaner production (RECP) solutions, and 429 out of 889 proposed solutions were implemented in Dinh Vu, Hoa Khanh, Hiep Phuoc, and Amata industrial parks.

RECP solutions helped enterprises reduce electricity consumption by 14,378 MWh/year, fossil fuel consumption by 264,127 GJ/year, water consumption by 278,690 m3/year, and greenhouse gas emissions by 55,663 tonnes of CO2 equivalent/year, bringing economic benefits to enterprises. Many industrial symbiosis and industrial-urban symbiosis solutions have been implemented, contributing to optimising waste reuse, concretising the implementation of circular economy, etc.

Currently, ecological industrial parks are becoming the selection criteria for foreign direct investment (FDI) with the goal of sustainable development, economic benefits and responsibility to the community and society. Many localities and industrial park infrastructure investors have identified that developing industrial parks according to a new model is an inevitable and urgent need to create sustainable competitive advantages.

Sharing at the recently held forum on comprehensive green solutions for industrial parks and investment promotion in Vinh Phuc Province, Chairman of Vinh Phuc Provincial People’s Committee Tran Duy Dong said that during the period of fluctuating global investment capital flows due to the COVID-19 pandemic, FDI capital in this locality was still higher than planned. From 2020 to now, Vinh Phuc has attracted an average of 500-600 million USD of FDI capital annually, the highest year reaching nearly 1 billion USD.

In just three years, from 2021 to 2023, Vinh Phuc’s investment attraction results exceeded the target set for the entire 2020-2025 term of 2 billion USD. This province also attracts high-quality investment flows from big brands such as Honda, Toyota, Piaggio and Daewoo.

According to the plan, by 2030, Vinh Phuc will have 28 industrial parks with an area of ​​about 4,800 hectares, in which priority is given to developing new industrial parks along key traffic routes such as the Hanoi-Lao Cai Expressway, Ring Road 4, Ring Road 5, etc.

In which, orienting investment to develop industrial parks to achieve high efficiency and towards sustainable development is one of the top urgent requirements.

According to economic experts, to successfully replicate the approach of eco-industrial parks to promote circular economy in Vietnam, it is necessary to develop a specific roadmap and implementation plan, continue improving mechanisms and policies, create favourable conditions for this transformation process, propose solutions for practical values and develop criteria to identify and register eco-industrial parks and eco-enterprises certification.

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LNG-fired power projects under Vietnam’s PDP VIII must operate in 2028

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The Vietnamese government has asked relevant agencies to speed up the progress of LNG-fired power projects towards completion and operation in 2028, earlier than the deadline specified in the power development plan VIII (PDP VIII).

In a recent announcement on amending the PDP VIII, the government noted that for projects with problems, the Ministry of Industry and Trade must help to solve them or report to higher authorities for solutions.

Nhon Trach 3 LNG-fired power plant in Dong Nai province, southern Vietnam. Photo courtesy of PV Power.

Nhon Trach 3 LNG-fired power plant in Dong Nai province, southern Vietnam. Photo courtesy of PV Power.

Regarding those already having investors, including LNG Quang Ninh, LNG Thai Binh, LNG Quang Trach II, phase 1 of LNG Hai Lang, LNG Son My I and LNG Son My II, and LNG O Mon II III IV, the trade ministry must speed up the progress to operate them in 2028. 2028 is two years earlier than the deadline in PDP VIII.

For project without investors yet such as LNG Quynh Lap, LNG Nghi Son, and LNG Ca Na, relevant agencies must accelerate the progress to complete them in Q1/2028 at the latest.

The government also requested that under-construction power projects must complete the construction and enter operation in 2025. These include the Nhon Trach 3 and Nhon Trach 4 LNG-fired power, Nam Cum 4 hydropower, expanded Hoa Binh hydropower, Vung Ang II thermal power, and Quang Trach I thermal power plants.

In addition, it ordered amendments to PDP VIII must be approved on March 20 at the latest. Electricity sources as baseload of the system must exceed 50% of the total in the amended PDP VIII, with the increase in LNG-fired power making up for the decrease in coal-fired power, the government added.

Vietnam currently has only one operational LNG-fired power project – the Nhon Trach 3 and Nhon Trach 4 in the southern province of Dong Nai.

In its draft amendment to the power development plan VIII (PDP VIII), the Ministry of Industry and Trade said that Vietnam can import LNG from major exporters such as Australia, the United States, and Qatar. In the long term, the country can consider LNG imports from Russia and other Middle East nations.

According to the draft amendment to PDP VIII, the electricity sector is set to consume 10-11.8 billion cubic meters of imported LNG yearly until 2030, then 9-11 billion cubic meters yearly by 2045.

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