Sustainable development of industrial zones - Necessary direction for the future

Aiming for sustainable development and minimizing environmental impacts, the development of industrial parks (IPs) in Vietnam in general and Vinh Phuc province in particular sets new requirements for quality in the direction of green development. To better understand this issue, Vinh Phuc Newspaper reporters interviewed Mr. Tran Quoc Trung, Deputy Director of the Department of Economic Zone Management, Ministry of Planning and Investment .

Mr. Tran Quoc Trung, Deputy Director of the Department of Economic Zone Management, Ministry of Planning and Investment. Photo: Mai Lien

Reporter: From the perspective of a State management agency, how do you evaluate the development process of Vinh Phuc 's industrial parks?

Mr. Tran Quoc Trung: After 27 years of construction and development, Vinh Phuc has creatively applied the Party's innovation policy, put forth correct and practical policies and guidelines, strived to rise up, and achieved many important achievements in socio-economic development.

From a primitive industrial production area with no industrial parks, up to now, the province has 29 planned industrial parks, of which 17 have been established with a total area of ​​3,146 hectares.

Attracting investment for many consecutive years has become a bright spot of the country. In the industrial zones in the province, there are currently 493 valid investment projects, including 376 FDI projects with a total investment capital of 6.74 billion USD from 20 countries and territories.

The effective operation of industrial parks has made important contributions to the State budget, contributing to the expansion and development of urban areas such as Phuc Yen, Vinh Tuong, Tam Duong, leading to the development of many supporting service industries such as transportation, logistics, restaurants, hotels, etc.

Thanks to the development of industrial parks, Vinh Phuc has made a spectacular transformation, from a poor locality that had to receive budget support from the Central Government to a province with strong economic development, with economic growth rate always among the top in the country for many years.

Reporter: The process of developing industrial parks poses many challenges. Could you share some of the difficulties and challenges that Vietnam's industrial parks in general and Vinh Phuc in particular are facing?

Mr. Tran Quoc Trung: Besides the important contributions of industrial parks to the socio-economic development of the country in general and Vinh Phuc in particular, the rapid development of the industrial park system also reveals many issues that need to be solved.

That is the level of industry linkage, cooperation, and industrial symbiosis between enterprises in the same industrial park or between industrial parks is still limited and not really effective.

Or the support services in many industrial parks still do not fully meet the needs or are not of high quality. There are not many services and infrastructure works shared between enterprises. The issue of life and social security of workers also needs to be paid more attention and attention by industrial park infrastructure investors and secondary investors in industrial parks.

Reporter: To solve the above challenges, in your opinion, what will be the development trend of industrial parks in the coming time? What factors do foreign investors pay attention to when choosing industrial parks?

Mr. Tran Quoc Trung: In the context of the world moving towards sustainable development, minimizing environmental impacts, Vietnam's industrial park development policies have set new requirements for quality in the direction of green and sustainable development. Industrial parks not only need to develop in breadth, but also need to go into depth, shift their structure to high-tech applications, innovate models, be environmentally friendly and closely linked to regional development, and connect neighboring areas.

Sustainable industrial park development is an inevitable trend, based on advanced management and operation platforms, and strong application of digital transformation and science and technology. In particular, aiming at the model of industrial symbiosis cooperation between enterprises to effectively use raw materials and energy resources is becoming an important criterion in the selection of FDI investors when deciding on investment locations.

Reporter: Can you suggest some specific solutions for Vinh Phuc in attracting investment and developing green technology projects in the province's industrial parks?

Mr. Tran Quoc Trung: To meet the trend of developing sustainable ecological industrial parks, Vinh Phuc needs to focus on transforming the development model from traditional industrial parks to stronger ecological industrial parks; developing high-tech industrial parks; prioritizing attracting new investment projects with green, environmentally friendly production technology.

The province needs to develop clear criteria to select, prioritize and create maximum conditions for projects that meet environmental safety standards, use energy efficiently and economically, or make the most of renewable energy sources.

In addition, the province needs to increase the attraction of investment projects in related industries, creating industry clusters and value chains to form industrial symbiotic chains, closely linked together. This is a model that helps businesses share and reuse by-products and waste in the production process effectively, thereby significantly saving input costs and minimizing environmental impacts.

In addition, the province must invest in developing social infrastructure, facilities such as housing, schools, hospitals, and utilities serving the lives of workers. Special attention should be paid to investing in environmental infrastructure such as wastewater treatment systems, centralized solid waste treatment, wind power fields, solar panels, etc. to build a green ecosystem for industrial parks.

Ba Thien II Industrial Park (Binh Xuyen) is built synchronously and is environmentally friendly. Photo: Khanh Linh

Reporter: On December 8-9, the Vietnam Industrial Park Finance Association (VIPFA) coordinated with the Provincial People's Committee to organize the Forum "Comprehensive green solutions for industrial parks and investment promotion in the province" in Vinh Phuc. What suggestions do you have for Vinh Phuc to successfully build a sustainable industrial park system?

Mr. Tran Quoc Trung: I appreciate Vinh Phuc as one of the leading provinces in the country to organize the Forum “Comprehensive green solutions for industrial parks and promote investment in the province”. Comprehensive greening of industrial parks is a big issue, having a profound impact not only on the province but also on the regions and the whole country.

To successfully build and develop the industrial park system nationwide, effectively implement the Green Development Strategy, and achieve the Net Zero goal, it is necessary to have the synchronous coordination of ministries, branches, localities and the high determination of local authorities, including Vinh Phuc province, as well as the connection between enterprises and investors, between the Industrial Park Management Board and the industrial parks and enterprises in the industrial parks, between service providers, technology and solution providers and manufacturing enterprises to form new types of industrial parks, apply new solutions and new technologies.

For example, not only do businesses share transportation infrastructure or wastewater treatment systems, they also share clean energy infrastructure instead of each business having to invest in these items themselves.

I believe that the Forum “Comprehensive green solutions for industrial parks and investment promotion in Vinh Phuc province” will be a great success. With the application of synchronous solutions and the spread of the forum, Vinh Phuc will take the lead in developing sustainable industrial parks in a modern direction, creating momentum for green economic development, circular economy, gradually solving problems related to resources and environment, building a sustainable economy, long-term development. Vinh Phuc will also achieve even better results in attracting investment and economic growth.

Thank you very much!

Mai Lien (performed)

Source: https://baovinhphuc.com.vn/Multimedia/Images/Id/121012/Phat-trien-ben-vung-khu-cong-nghiep---Huong-di-can-thiet-cho-tuong-lai