VSIP Nghe An is expected to kick off this September, according to Nghe An provincial authorities. This will be an EIZ to cover an area of 1,400 hectares with investment capital of VND3 trillion in the first phase of the project.

The license for the project is expected to be granted in July. This will be the seventh VSIP to be developed in Vietnam. A similar project, the eighth VSIP, would be developed in the central province of Binh Dinh.

Like other VSIPs, the IZs developed by the joint venture between Singaporean Sembcorp and Vietnamese Becamex IDC and VSIP Nghe An will include an area for the IZ and an area for an urban area. Housing for workers will be built in the urban area, along with schools and entertainment services. 

The rapid expansion of VSIP projects in recent years shows that the joint venture remains optimistic about the potential in Vietnam. VSIPs have attracted about 500 investors who operate projects worth $6.4 billion, employing 140,000 workers.

Tran Duy Dong, director of the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Economic Zone Management Department, noted that VSIP was a typical success story of IZ development in Vietnam.

One of the reasons behind the great success is that VSIP follows the EIZ model, i.e., IZ plus urban area.

At first, VSIP only built an IZ in Binh Duong province, covering an area of 500 hectares, while it did not reserve land for urban and service area. 

However, it began following the EIZ model 10 years ago, when it realized that the traffic jams and travel expenses have been increasing with rapid urbanization. It would be better if workers and their family members can live, work and entertain themselves in the same place.

VSIP is not the only EIZ developer. Many other foreign investors have jumped on the bandwagon.

Thai Amata Group, for example, following the success with Amata Bien Hoa IZ, is planning to develop three new ones – Amata Long Thanh, Amata Quang Ninh and Amata Binh Dinh. All of the three will be EIZs.

To prepare for the project in Quang Ninh province, Amata wants to relocate two coal ports in the locality and the Uong Bi thermal power plant to upgrade its technology to be sure that Amata’s urban area will not be polluted.

Sojitz and Rent-A-Port are also considering building more IZs under the same model. 

Rent-A-Port, the developer of the Dinh Vu IZ, has recently received licenses to develop two EIZs in Hai Phong and Quang Ninh.

NCDT