The southern province of Binh Duong, a neighbour of Ho Chi Minh City, is leveraging its industrial parks to lure foreign direct investment (FDI) and develop trades and services, building a diverse economic ecosystem that facilitates the formation of a green and smart economy.
Second and third generations of industrial parks in Binh Duong that embrace eco-friendly models have high occupancy and attracted many projects in clean and profitable sectors.
The province has seen strong FDI inflows into higher quality projects, including two by Danish investors approved earlier this year to set up camp at the new-generation Vietnam – Singapore Industrial Park III (VSIP III). Now under construction, the 1,000-ha park will be equipped with uniform, green and smart infrastructure.
One of the projects is a toy production facility worth 1.3 billion USD by LEGO Group, the largest investment in Vietnam ever made by a Danish company. LEGO Group will invest the money in the construction of its first-ever carbon neutral factory, scheduled to start later this year. The other is a 100-million-USD jewellery-making project targeting the international market.
Binh Duong authorities are coordinating with domestic and foreign partners via webinars to establish a global promotion network that helps call for FDI to the province, said Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Van Danh.
The network kept up operations during COVID-19, Danh said, adding that with this network, Binh Duong has become a pioneer in approaching foreign investors by organising promotion webinars on a regular basis.
Danh went on to announce that last week, Binh Duong smart city was listed in the world’s top seven intelligent communities by US-based think tank Intelligent Community Forum (ICF). The list was chosen from the ICF’s Smart21 Communities of 2022.
It was the second consecutive year Binh Duong smart city had been placed in the top seven finalists.
It shows that Binh Duong has prepared the groundwork for accomplishing its smart city development project for the 2022 – 2026 period in which the province intends to stay focused on innovation, Industry 4.0 and smart growth, the official said.
It has developed an ecosystem of industrial parks prioritising projects that employ innovative technologies and advanced science, and promotes a green economy.
Nguyen Van Hung, Chairman of Becamex IDC, a leading industrial, urban and transport infrastructure developer of the country, said a highlight of the province’s industrial ecosystems is the complex of Binh Duong in which a network of industrial parks has been developed in tandem with urban development and construction of public administrative facilities. It is expected to be the heart of Binh Duong smart city.
The complex is cooperating with major partners, such as Japan’s Tokyu Group and Singapore’s Sembcorp, to build high-quality and model urban zones for the accommodation of foreign investors and experts.
A number of internationally-recognised schools, from kindergartens to universities, have also been founded in the complex. They include the Eastern International University and the Vietnamese-German University which offer various courses taught in English in the most sought-after fields such as IT, mechatronics engineering and electronics engineering. The focus is to provide a skilled workforce for the local industry, according to Hung.
He also noted that transport infrastructure will be further improved to increase the connectivity between local industrial parks and major ports and airports of the region. For example, National Highway 13 is under expansion as it plays a critical part in connecting Binh Duong’s industrial parks and Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat International Airport. Inter-regional roads will also be built to better link the province with Long Thanh International Airport which is under construction, and Cai Mep – Thi Vai Port.
Vice Chairman Danh added that the province has remained among Vietnam’s top performers in socio-economic growth, industrial development and FDI attraction for years.
From being one of the provinces hit the hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic last year, Binh Duong has bounced back to top the country in FDI attraction in the first five months of 2022, raking in nearly 2.5 billion USD in FDI.
It is now the second largest FDI recipient of the country, only after the country’s biggest hub of HCM City, with 4,042 projects by investors from 65 countries and territories, worth a total of around 40 billion USD./.
