The effectiveness of Binh Duong's proactive selection of high-quality FDI

Binh Duong is a pioneer in selectively attracting investment. To gain this proactive “right”, local leaders and businesses continuously upgrade the quality of industrial parks (IPs) as well as improve the investment environment.

Selection criteria and initial effectiveness

Statistics show that Binh Duong has more than 4,300 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects with a total investment capital of 40.7 billion USD, ranking 3rd in the country in attracting investment.

Industrial parks in Binh Duong attract foreign investors.

Notably, not only has the quantity of FDI projects increased rapidly, but the quality of the projects has also improved significantly as the province has attracted many enterprises belonging to large corporations with modern technology from markets such as the US, Europe, and Japan.

Binh Duong is also the pioneer province in issuing a set of criteria for selecting investors to build technical infrastructure for clusters and industrial parks in the area. Accordingly, the province proactively selects FDI into the locality with an investment calling policy that shifts to manufacturing enterprises with high technology and added value, with links to domestic enterprises and with R&D (research and development) centers located locally.

Therefore, the province prioritizes cooperation with visionary investors, strongly applying high technology associated with environmental protection to create harmony between socio -economic development and green growth, contributing to building Binh Duong smart city to reach international standards.

The initial effect of this policy is that a series of large-scale enterprises worldwide have joined the new local segment, of which Vietnam - Singapore Industrial Park 3 (VSIP 3) is considered a "model".

Specifically, according to data from the Department of Planning and Investment of Binh Duong province, the industrial parks have leased more than 285,700 m2 of industrial land and more than 64,200 m2 of factories in the first months of 2024. To date, the industrial parks have leased 7,067.49 hectares, reaching an occupancy rate of 93.67%. In which, VSIP 3 is currently attracting many international investors, especially in the high-tech sector. Currently, this industrial park has more than 30 international companies interested with a total expected investment capital of up to 1.8 billion USD.

Most notable recently is the Lego Group's toy factory project with an investment capital of nearly 1.4 billion USD and an area of 44 hectares at VSIP 3 Industrial Park, considered the group's first carbon neutral factory globally.

Sharing with the media, a Lego representative said that the project in Binh Duong will be Lego's most sustainable factory in the world in terms of design and construction with modern equipment. This factory will use entirely renewable energy (solar power).

“We have many initiatives to build an environmentally friendly factory. We install solar panels on the roof and on the ground, and we also plant a lot of trees to help reduce carbon emissions in the area. We also have a high-tech exhaust system, all of which contribute to promoting sustainable development,” said a Lego representative.

In addition to Lego, the world's leading jewelry brand Pandora has also just started construction of a factory in VSIP 3. Mr. Jeerasage Puranasamriddhi, Pandora's Supply Director, commented that Binh Duong province and VSIP 3 in particular have good infrastructure. In addition, Pandora also receives active support from the government and the management board of VSIP 3 Industrial Park.

“With similarities in the common goal of aiming at smart manufacturing, this is Pandora’s third production facility and the first factory built outside of Thailand. Notably, this factory will use 100% renewable energy,” the company representative informed.

Lessons from Binh Duong's approach

According to the assessment of leading experts, in addition to the advantage of decades of industrial development, to achieve such results, Binh Duong has unified changes on 3 sides including local leaders, investors of industrial parks, and enterprises.

As a reputable investor in the field of industrial park real estate, Ms. Huynh Dinh Thai Linh, Executive Director of World Trade Center Binh Duong New City (WTC Binh Duong) said that, in line with the general trend, WTC has been converting traditional industrial park models into green, smart industrial parks, and with newly built industrial parks, it has invested systematically from the beginning.

According to Ms. Linh, this is the direction of the Vietnamese Government that businesses cannot stay out of the "game". WTC has even combined and received advice from many units to not only implement this strategy in Binh Duong but also dozens of industrial parks across the country.

“It is expected and completely reasonable to determine that Binh Duong will become a new world trade center connecting not only the key southern provinces but also the whole world. International trade and connection activities will help bring many modern automation technologies in the world to Vietnam and realize them sooner than expected,” Ms. Linh shared.

On the provincial leadership side, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Vo Van Minh said that Binh Duong currently has infrastructure development models that have become exemplary, spreading to many localities across the country. With these achievements, Binh Duong province in particular and Vietnam in general are considered to have high economic development potential and become an attractive destination for FDI.

This is also considered a way to anticipate the trend when many big companies are also aiming for investment criteria to transform the green and sustainable growth model on the basis of developing a green industrial ecosystem, circular economy, and green energy.

In addition, the province has been implementing the strategy for developing a Smart City and an Innovation Zone. In particular, the key development orientations are in the fields of innovation, application of Industry 4.0 achievements, smart management and sustainable development.

At the same time, Binh Duong will start many major transport projects, continuing to attract investment in 2024. Specifically, the province will continue to start construction of Ring Road 4, Ho Chi Minh City - Thu Dau Mot - Chon Thanh Expressway. Complete a series of district-level trunk roads, inter-regional and intra-regional connections to facilitate businesses in transporting goods to airports and seaports.

The province will review and find solutions to improve the PCI index, further promote administrative procedure reform to create the most favorable conditions for businesses and investors. Provincial leaders affirmed their readiness to work with infrastructure investors to organize investment promotion activities to attract more investment projects in industrial parks.

Through research and survey, Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Khanh, General Director of Vietnam Industrial Park Information Portal, said that selection is inevitable because Binh Duong's land fund is no longer too large. In addition, attracting FDI according to the given criteria affirms that Binh Duong's industrial park position has been raised.

This is specifically shown through rental prices. Some industrial parks in Binh Duong have now applied investment in ecological industrial parks, thereby increasing rental prices to 180 - 200 USD/m2 (the highest in the country).

“Traditional industrial parks without good infrastructure can only have rental prices of 80-100 USD. This is a typical example and a problem that industrial park investors and businesses in other localities need to pay attention to in attracting investment, especially FDI, to industrial parks in the coming time,” Ms. Khanh analyzed.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/hieu-qua-tu-viec-chu-dong-chon-loc-fdi-chat-luong-cao-cua-binh-duong-d219152.html