A wastewater treatment system.

According to Duong Thanh An, head of the Policy and Legal Affairs Department under the Vietnam Environment Administration, the country currently has 283 operational IZs, of which 212, or 75 percent, have completed the construction of concentrated waste water treatment systems. 

The rate of IZs with operational concentrated waste water treatment systems has increased remarkably, reaching 96.7 percent in the Southeast region. 

The combined capacity of all concentrated waste water treatment plants is 800,000 cu.m per day and night, or 4,000 cu.m per plant on average, which is sufficient to meet demand, as the 212 IZs discharge around 550,000 cu.m of waste water daily. 

However, environment protection remains a big concern when only five percent of the existing 615 industrial clusters nationwide have concentrated waste water treatment systems. In addition, most IZs have yet to create plans to prevent or respond to environmental incidents as required by the Law on Environment 2014. 

The national planning of IZs has also revealed shortcomings, as IZs are distributed unevenly among regions. One third of the IZs are located in the Southeast region, putting pressure on the environment in the region, especially the Dong Nai and Thi Vai river basins.

VNA