Korean investors promote two large-scale projects in Can Tho

Through the connection of the Vietnam - Asia Net Zero Science and Cooperation Center (VANZA), on the afternoon of September 30, leaders of the Department of Industry and Trade, the Department of Agriculture and Environment, the Management Board of Export Processing and Industrial Zones of Can Tho City had a working session with SEP Cooperative Group; Lotte Group and the Vietnam - Asia Net Zero Science and Cooperation Center (Vanza) to explore investment opportunities, build a bio-oil processing plant from straw and agricultural by-products and a fruit juice factory.

Department of Industry and Trade and leaders of Can Tho City's departments and agencies work with Korean investors. Photo: Thanh Liem

Speaking at the meeting, Mr. Hyun Dong Hoon, Chairman of SEP Cooperative Group, assessed that Can Tho City, with its advantage of being a key economic zone of the Mekong Delta, has great potential for fruits and agricultural products, and abundant straw resources, so SEP Cooperative has chosen Can Tho as the place to implement the project and develop. The Group aims to turn waste products that are often burned and cause pollution into a valuable source of renewable energy.

In addition to straw, the factory can also utilize other by-products such as fruit peels, bagasse, and corn stalks. In the first phase, the bio-oil factory will need about 30 hectares to build. The next phase will invest in building the first Net zero complex industrial park in Southern Vietnam with a scale of nearly 300 hectares, bringing multi-dimensional economic, environmental and social benefits, helping to reduce CO2 emissions and environmental pollution, increasing the efficiency of resource use (energy, water, raw materials) up to 90% through recycling and renewable energy.

Mr. Hyun Dong Hoon hopes that the Can Tho City government will have good policies to give the group the opportunity to invest, build and develop green industries in the locality.

SEP Cooperative Group signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Department of Industry and Trade of Can Tho City in June 2025 and is currently in the feasibility study (FS) phase with the Korean government's energy regulator.

This bio-oil plant project follows the successful model that SEP Cooperative has implemented in Malaysia and Mongolia where the enterprise uses palm residue, rice husks, rice and agricultural waste to produce bio-oil.

Besides the project of SEP Cooperative Group, at the working session, Mr. Nam Ki Wong, Director of Lotte Chilsung Beverage (under Lotte Group) and VANZA presented a detailed plan for the project to build a concentrated fruit juice factory in Can Tho City.

Mr. Nam Ki Wong said that the project's goal is to produce fruit juice that meets international standards for export to Korea, the EU, the US, and Japan, with the main ingredients including pineapple, mango, passion fruit, watermelon, Korean rice water, orange, grapefruit, banana, guava, and dragon fruit.

In particular, fruit pulp after pressing is used to produce bio-oil, organic fertilizer, and biomass electricity.

It is expected that the factory will have a capacity of 300,000 - 500,000 liters of juice/day (equivalent to 100 - 150 million liters/year), with a raw material demand of 600 - 1,200 tons of fresh fruit/day.

The factory will be built with an expected area of 50 - 70 hectares. Of which, the main production area is 20 hectares (pressing, concentrating, bottling, cold storage); the logistics and transportation area is 10-15 hectares (container parking, internal roads, transit warehouse); the by-product processing and clean energy area is 10-15 hectares (bio-oil, fertilizer, biomass electricity, ESS factory); the administrative area - R&D - testing center is 5 hectares.

Regarding supply chain and quality control, the Factory will order farmers to grow according to export standards (GlobalGAP, HACCP, ISO22000). Lotte controls input standards to suit the Korean, Japanese, EU, and US markets.

SEP and VANZA manage activities related to carbon credits, bio-oil, and organic fertilizers. At the same time, VANZA supports logistics planning such as cold storage, container trucks, river ports, and roads connecting to Ho Chi Minh City and Cai Mep - Thi Vai port.

The project has an estimated total investment capital of 120 - 180 million USD in the first phase (capacity of 300,000 liters/day); the next phase is 150 - 220 million USD when increasing the factory capacity to 500,000 liters/day.

When put into operation, the factory is expected to attract about 600-900 direct workers and create indirect jobs in the supply chain (contract farmers, cooperatives, road/water transport, ancillary services) for about 1,000 - 2,500 workers.

In order for the project to be implemented soon, the investor requested Can Tho City to complete the legal framework for investment licensing; provide statistics on raw material areas (output of each type of fruit) along with preferential policies on tax, land, human resource training and other support according to legal regulations.

At the meeting, Mr. Le Thanh Thanh, Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade of Can Tho City, highly appreciated the potential of the Bio-Oil Production Factory Project and the Concentrated Fruit Juice Factory Project. These two projects are very suitable for the city's orientation of green and sustainable industrial development.

In particular, the bio-oil project will need a lot of raw materials from agricultural waste, helping farmers increase production and create income for farmers.

The Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade of Can Tho City hopes that Korean investors will continue to cooperate in the coming time to successfully develop this project and many other projects. According to him, the Department of Industry and Trade and the departments of Can Tho City will try to support and create all favorable conditions for investors.

Regarding the Korean investor's request to immediately need about 30 hectares to build a bio-oil extraction plant, Ms. Nguyen Thi Lieu, Deputy Head of the Management Board of Can Tho Export Processing and Industrial Zones, suggested that Tran De Industrial Park would be a suitable choice. This industrial park has a total area of 160 hectares, currently about 100 hectares of clean land, ready for investors to lease and implement the project immediately. The land rental price here is about 85 USD/m2 for 44 years. Moreover, this area also has a future expansion plan, which can meet the long-term development needs of businesses.

In addition, Song Hau Industrial Park has the advantage of being close to the river port, convenient for transporting both fruit and straw by waterway.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Lieu said that Can Tho City currently has 9 industrial parks in operation, along with a number of potential parks calling for investment, including Vinh Thanh phase 1 (293 hectares), Vinh Thanh phase 2 (540 hectares) and Song Hau 2 (380 hectares).

Regarding raw material sources, a representative of the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection - Department of Agriculture and Environment of Can Tho informed that the city has abundant sources of straw and agricultural by-products. With 700,000 hectares of rice fields each year through three crops, the amount of surplus straw accounts for up to 80% after meeting the needs of livestock and mushroom growing. The agricultural sector is committed to comprehensive support, providing detailed data on raw material areas and output, helping businesses feel secure in their investments.

In particular, converting straw into renewable energy not only brings economic benefits to farmers but also effectively solves the problem of environmental pollution from burning straw in the fields.

In addition to the above project, SEP Cooperative Group also wants to learn about the wind power project in Can Tho. The leader of the Department of Industry and Trade of Can Tho City said that Can Tho currently has 2,000 MW of wind power, of which 500 MW has investors, and the remaining 1,500 MW is calling for investors to participate in bidding for implementation. The Department will inform more partners about this project in the near future.

The Department of Industry and Trade and other departments will support the Korean business delegation to conduct field surveys at the introduced industrial parks and visit some units that can provide raw materials such as straw, rice husks and agricultural by-products.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/nha-dau-tu-han-quoc-xuc-tien-2-du-an-quy-mo-lon-tai-can-tho-d398848.html