Struggling to convert to an eco-industrial park
According to documents from the Department of Legal Affairs (Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment) sent to the forum "Promoting sustainable development of industrial parks in Vietnam" on March 28.3 in Hanoi, as of February 20.2, the country had 418 industrial parks that had been opened. establish. Of these, 298 industrial parks have come into operation; 120 industrial parks are under construction.
Forum overview
The country has 29 industrial parks in operation that do not have a centralized wastewater treatment system. Industrial parks without wastewater systems are located in the following provinces: Hoa Binh, Lao Cai, Phu Tho, Hung Yen, Ninh Binh, Thai Binh, Thanh Hoa, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien - Hue, Lam Dong, Binh Phuoc, Bac Lieu, Can Tho, Dong Thap.
Notably, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, currently 100% of industrial parks have environmental impact assessment reports and environmental protection projects. More than 12.200 establishments operate in the industrial park, generating more than 4,2 million tons of solid waste, of which the industrial park in the Southeast region accounts for 61,02%.
Hazardous waste generated from industrial parks annually is about 550.000 tons. Industrial parks in the northern midlands and mountainous areas are the most developed, accounting for 45%.
Exchange with Youth Previously, Dr. Phan Huu Thang, interim Chairman of Vietnam Industrial Park Finance Association, former Director of the Foreign Investment Department (Ministry of Planning and Investment), said that although Vietnam's industrial park system has developed strongly, over time, but to this day some still exist.
The industrial park development model is still multi-sectoral and multi-sectoral with the development motivation mainly based on land potential. Many new industrial park models such as high-tech industrial parks and ecological industrial parks have not yet been built and developed. to take advantage of favorable factors and meet the requirements of international investors on green development and environmental protection...
In order to move towards green and sustainable development, solutions for model transformation in industrial parks are content shared by many delegates at the forum.
Ms. Tran To Loan, Deputy General Director of Sao Do Group - investor of Nam Dinh Vu Industrial Park (Hai Phong), said that Nam Dinh Vu Industrial Park is in the process of converting from a traditional industrial park model to an ecological industrial park. During the conversion process, the first difficulty encountered is capital and finance.
“Industrial parks mainly develop in stages and on a rolling basis. Investing in system synchronization requires huge costs," Ms. Loan said. In addition, she also mentioned the issue of many unclear regulations, causing difficulties for businesses.
“In Decree 35/2022 regulating the management of economic zones and industrial parks, the ecological industrial park model is introduced. When talking about industrial parks participating in cleaner production activities and using resources more effectively, the decree sets a specific target that 20% of enterprises in industrial parks must carry out cleaner production.
But this regulation does not specifically state what is "cleaner", or what is "more efficient use of resources". While in order to use resources cleaner and more effectively, the industrial park itself and businesses in the zone must also invest huge financial resources to change the entire technology and chain. Without specific regulations, it is difficult to encourage businesses to make the switch," Ms. Loan gave an example.
It is necessary to soon specify the criteria for eco-industrial parks
According to Mr. Thang, the Government has issued Decree 35/2022 with clear definitions of industrial parks such as support industrial parks, specialized industrial parks, ecological industrial parks, high-tech industrial parks, and expanded industrial parks; regulations detailing the formation, management and development of various types of industrial parks... But developing green industrial parks to eliminate waste and minimize negative impacts on the environment still has certain difficulties.
In addition, there are still regulations and orientations for the development of industrial parks, but they are scattered in many other legal documents, in related laws such as land, construction, environment and administrative procedures. still needs to be improved.
"Overcoming these limitations can quickly promote the development of highly effective types of industrial parks, in accordance with the green and high-tech development orientation set for the coming period," Mr. Thang emphasized.
Proposing solutions to promote sustainable development of industrial parks at the forum, Ms. Virginia Foote, member of AmCham Hanoi Executive Board, CEO of Bay Global Straegies, said that there needs to be a mechanism to encourage businesses to seriously implement, Synchronize the regulations set out in the Industrial Park to achieve high efficiency, avoiding the situation where in the same facility some businesses work and others do not.
Ms. Loan hopes that in the coming time, state management agencies will issue more specific regulations to create favorable conditions for industrial parks as well as businesses in industrial parks during the transition process.
Meanwhile, many other opinions at the comment forum need to soon concretize the criteria for eco-industrial parks with specific preferential policies, especially on access to land, planning, capital and science-technology, in It is necessary to specify the responsibilities of relevant parties such as management agencies, investors, local authorities...
