ĦĦĦĦHANOI, Sept. 29 (Xinhuanet£Ĵby Huang Haimin ) -- Vietnam's rapid socio-economic growth is
attributed largely to the establishment of industrial and export-processing
zones, which have acted as economic engines over the past decade.
ĦĦĦĦAt present, there are 908 projects valued at 8.72 billion US dollars in 68
industrial parks (IPs) and three export processing zones (EPZs) across the
country.
ĦĦĦĦIn other words, 44 percent of the combined area of 12,660 hectares of IPs
and EPZs have been occupied. Particularly, the TanThuan EPZ in Ho Chi Minh City,
the Bien Hoa 2 IP in the southern province of Dong Nai, and the Sai Dong B IP on
the outskirts of the capital city of Hanoi have been fully leased.
ĦĦĦĦIP and EPZ operation provides the country with opportunities toapproach
advanced technology. The Ho Chi Minh City IPs Authority'shead, Nguyen Chon
Trung, said the IPs and EPZs initiated the emulation in study and technology
improvement, especially in such industries as textile and garment, mechanical
engineering, electronics and wood processing.
ĦĦĦĦBased on the formation and development of various economic sectors, IP and
EPZ performance has contributed to renovating management policies related to the
fields of investment, import-export, finance and banking, customs, labor
management, construction and environment. The most notable contribution of
IPsand EPZs over the past 10 years is that they have created a huge workforce
significant for the country's industrialization and modernization.
ĦĦĦĦThe southern region seems to be more attractive for IPs and EPZs developers
as two-thirds of the zones have been built in the region. Southern IPs and EPZs
are home to 775 projects of foreign direct investment worth almost 6.9 billion
US dollars, accounting for 85.5 percent and 74.8 percent of the total in terms
of projectnumber and investment capital, respectively.
ĦĦĦĦWith 15 IPs and EPZs, Ho Chi Minh City takes the lead among localities in
terms of quantity of IPs and EPZs. Products turned out by enterprises in those
zones have been exported to 50 countries and regions. Japan, the European Union,
and Taiwan respectively import 45.3 percent, 24.1 percent, and 9.8 percent
oftotal products turned out by the 15 IPs and EPZs in Ho Chi Minh City.
ĦĦĦĦThese zones are currently employing almost 100,000 people with more than 20
percent of them being college and university degree holders and skilled workers.
ĦĦĦĦApart from large-scale IPs and EPZs, 19 provinces and cities have zoned off
124 industrial zones and clusters, attracting 563 domestic and foreign
businesses with combined investment of 12.23 trillion Vietnamese dong (VND) (815
million US dollars).
ĦĦĦĦApart from these achievements, many limitations have been exposed in the
development of IPs and EPZs over the past 10 years,said Tran Ngoc Hung, vice
director of the Department for Management of Industrial and Export Processing
Parks of the Ministry of Planning and Investment. They include the monotony
andimbalance in development, and the incomplete and unsystematic infrastructure
inside and outside IPs.
ĦĦĦĦThe land leasing and re-leasing structure is the most urgent problem.
Spending on ground clearance and infrastructure construction have caused a high
price for land in a number of IPs,which makes it difficult to fill these IPs
with projects. The paceof infrastructure construction remains slow due to the
lack of investment capital and difficulties in ground clearance. Much timeand
investment have been spent on ground clearance, the most difficult work in IPs,
particularly IPs in northern provinces.
ĦĦĦĦTo bring the role of IPs into play, Hung said that the first task that must
be done is to diversify models of IPs in order to attract and raise
effectiveness of investment.
ĦĦĦĦThe second is to combine the process of developing IPs with economic
restructuring and urbanization, agricultural and rural development,
systematizing the technical and social infrastructureinside and outside IPs.
ĦĦĦĦThe third is to implement additional reasonable policy on infrastructure
development for areas with difficulties in socio-economic development to help
them attract more investment.
ĦĦĦĦThe fourth is to complete the structure and method for management of IPs
and EPZs towards "one door" and "one place" in order to create more favorable
conditions for businesses to operate in IPs.
ĦĦĦĦAnother important measure is to gradually eliminate the differences of
policies for domestic and foreign investors in IPs.Enditem
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