“Hai Phong is committed to developing an effective and sustainable eco-industrial park”, said the leader of Hai Phong Economic Zone Authority (HEZA) at the meeting with the delegation of the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), UNIDO and SECO in Hai Phong city on 18 May 2022.

Based on the results and progress of the implementation of the Eco-Industrial Park Project following the approach from the global Eco-Industrial Park program, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, in its role as the national coordinating agency, organized a working group to deploy the Eco-Industrial Park model in Hai Phong city.

Attending the working program in Hai Phong were Mr. Le Thanh Quan – Director of the Department of Economic Zones Management – Ministry of Planning and Investment, Director of the Project Management Board “Implementing Eco-Industrial Parks following the approach from the global Eco-Industrial Park program” (Project); Ms. Vuong Thi Minh Hieu – Deputy Director of the Department of Economic Zones Management, Deputy Director of the Project; Ms. Sibylle Bachman, Deputy Head of the International Cooperation Department, Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO); Ms. Le Thi Thanh Thao, Chief Representative of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in Vietnam; leaders of Hai Phong Economic Zone Management Board, leaders of Dinh Vu Industrial Park Joint Stock Company and officers of the Project Management Board, press and media agencies…

In the program, the delegation had a working session with leaders of Hai Phong Economic Zone Management Board, Dinh Vu Industrial Park Joint Stock Company; the content focused on discussing the implementation status of the ecological industrial park project, the implementation status of the ecological industrial park project at Dinh Vu Industrial Park (DEEP C I Industrial Park) and the orientation of Hai Phong city in converting ecological industrial parks. At the same time, they conducted a field survey at Dinh Vu Industrial Park to convert to ecology according to the global ecological industrial park program; surveyed and exchanged experiences in implementing ecological industrial park solutions with SHINEC Joint Stock Company, the investor of Nam Cau Kien Industrial Park.

Hai Phong needs to promote the transformation of ecological industrial parks more quickly and strongly

At the meeting with the leaders of the Hai Phong Economic Zone Management Board, the sponsors UNIDO and SECO, Director of the Department of Economic Zone Management Le Thanh Quan expressed his sincere thanks and highly appreciated the enthusiastic and effective support of the sponsors UNIDO and SECO in developing sustainable development models in Vietnam, in which the outstanding model is the development of ecological industrial parks following the approach from the global ecological industrial park model. Director Le Thanh Quan emphasized that UNIDO and SECO have actively supported the Ministry of Planning and Investment and localities in developing ecological industrial parks, contributing to improving the effectiveness of three important pillars (economy, environment and society) to help Vietnam take the most correct, fastest and most effective steps for the goal of sustainable development in Vietnam.

Director Le Thanh Quan affirmed that the Ministry of Planning and Investment achieved important results in the previous phase of the Project, demonstrating the trust and effective support of UNIDO and SECO. The Project in Phase I has achieved many successes and is of great significance in the context of the initial model of ecological industrial parks, which is quite new in Vietnam; however, during the implementation of the Project, the Project Management Board has actively promoted propaganda work to raise awareness of the sustainable development model to ministries, branches, localities and the business community. Thereby, step by step, helping Vietnam gain valuable experience in the conversion roadmap and regulations to achieve effective and sustainable eco-industrial park development models”.

When we do well in phase I of the Project, the sponsors will trust and believe in us to continue implementing phase II as it is now. I hope that Vietnam will continue to receive the attention, cooperation and enthusiastic and effective support of the sponsors UNIDO and SECO so that the Project has many opportunities to spread and strongly deploy eco-industrial parks nationwide”,

Frankly acknowledging the limitations in the progress of the Project implementation in 2021, the Director said that, objectively, due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, the Project Management Board has not had many opportunities to meet, contact and exchange directly with the localities piloting the conversion of eco-industrial parks. Regarding the next plans of the Project, the Director hopes that in 2022, the Project will well implement the Project’s implementation progress according to the plan set out for the whole year of 2022; at the same time, make up for the activities that have not been implemented in 2021 so that the plans are not affected, especially the activities on consulting and training.

On the side of Hai Phong City, Director Le Thanh Quan welcomed the pioneering spirit in participating in the pilot conversion of traditional industrial parks to ecological industrial park models, contributing to helping Hai Phong create an important driving force to promote investment attraction, economic and social development and sustainable environmental development. At the same time, he suggested that in the coming time, Hai Phong needs to promote the conversion of ecological industrial parks more quickly, strongly and effectively; Using DEEP C Industrial Park to spread the effect of developing ecological industrial parks to other industrial parks in the area, and strengthen industrial symbiosis activities between enterprises in the same industrial park, towards strengthening the connection between industrial parks in the city so that Hai Phong can move towards the goal of becoming an ecological city as expected and desired by the government and people of Hai Phong city.

Assessing the progress of implementing the ecological industrial park project in Hai Phong, Director Le Thanh Quan emphasized that although in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic negatively affecting all aspects of life and society in 2021, the Hai Phong Economic Zone Management Board has closely coordinated with DEEP C Industrial Park to implement a number of important tasks, such as evaluating and mobilizing enterprises to participate in industrial symbiosis.

In order to deploy the next activities at DEEP C Industrial Park on schedule and effectively, the Director requested the Hai Phong Economic Zone Management Board and DEEP C infrastructure investors to discuss, agree, and have a specific time plan to select enterprises in DEEP C Industrial Park to have a meeting with the Project’s consultants; from there, deploy exchange, consulting, and guidance activities to support enterprises in order to contribute to raising awareness of the ecological industrial park model and industrial symbiosis activities, cleaner production, contributing to ensuring the Project’s progress and quality.

Always accompanying and effectively supporting the goal of sustainable development in Vietnam

On behalf of the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), Ms. Sibylle Bachmann, Deputy Head of the Swiss Cooperation Office in Vietnam, said: “Sustainable market-oriented economic growth is the core objective of the Economic Cooperation and Development Program 2021-2024 of the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) in Vietnam. Developing eco-industrial parks is an important project to realize that goal. Therefore, we are committed to supporting Vietnam through the partnership between UNIDO and the Ministry of Planning and Investment of Vietnam to complete and implement the necessary legal framework and enable the conversion of traditional industrial parks in Vietnam to eco-industrial park models. The project also pilots specific eco-industrial park models in line with international practices to attract sustainable investment in Vietnam and enhance the competitiveness of enterprises in these industrial parks”.

Sharing about the initial achievements that Vietnam has achieved in developing eco-industrial parks, Ms. Le Thi Thanh Thao, Chief Representative of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in Vietnam, highly appreciated the results achieved by the Ministry of Planning and Investment in developing the eco-industrial park model in Vietnam (specifically in phase I of the Project and ongoing activities of phase II of the Project being implemented in 05 provinces and cities: Hai Phong, Da Nang, Can Tho, Dong Nai, Ho Chi Minh City).

According to Ms. Thanh Thao, during the implementation of the Project, the Project Management Board and the pilot localities of eco-industrial parks have encountered many difficulties in terms of epidemics, policies and mechanisms, etc. UNIDO hopes that localities and enterprises will continue to share the difficulties and challenges they are facing in the process of implementing eco-industrial parks so that UNIDO and the Government together with Vietnamese ministries and branches can receive feedback and have timely support solutions to remove difficulties and obstacles.

Ms. Thanh Thao emphasized: “UNIDO has a legal advisory role for the Government of Vietnam to support the development of eco-industrial parks in Vietnam. UNIDO is committed to always being ready to cooperate with the Government of Vietnam and support businesses in consulting on technical solutions and supporting access to green financial resources. UNIDO looks forward to receiving close support from the Government of Vietnam and the business community to spread eco-industrial parks nationwide”.

Ms. Thanh Thao happily said that during the field survey at DEEP C Industrial Park, she witnessed the rapid change of this Industrial Park after 03 years of returning; The industrial park with synchronous and modern infrastructure, especially the items of works related to environmental protection that are invested in methodically and on a large scale (such as the area using rooftop solar power system, automatic online wastewater treatment system with the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, wastewater reuse nursery…) have proven that DEEP C Industrial Park can reach the level of an ecological industrial park of the world.

Ms. Thanh Thao said that in the process of implementing the ecological industrial park, DEEP C Industrial Park will certainly have to face many difficulties and challenges, but it is a joy that today many policy issues have been mentioned to help the Hai Phong Economic Zone Management Board and DEEP C Industrial Park quickly move towards the goal of developing the ecological industrial park faster, stronger and more effectively.

“I congratulate DEEP C Industrial Park on achieving many successes in developing a comprehensive and effective ecological industrial park. And hopefully we will see DEEP C Industrial Park certified as an ecological industrial park in the near future and become the first and typical ecological industrial park model in Vietnam,” Ms. Thanh Thao optimistically hopes.

Hai Phong strives to become the first and typical locality with an ecological industrial park in the country

On behalf of the leaders of Hai Phong city in general and the Hai Phong Economic Zone Management Board in particular, Mr. Le Trung Kien, Head of the Hai Phong Economic Zone Management Board, thanked the Ministry of Planning and Investment, UNIDO and SECO for their effective assistance and support, creating favorable conditions for Hai Phong city in developing ecological industrial parks and sustainable development models.

In order to achieve the goals of developing ecological industrial parks in a comprehensive, effective and sustainable manner, Head of the Board Le Trung Kien hopes that the Hai Phong Economic Zone Management Board will always receive attention and support in all aspects from the Ministry of Planning and Investment (especially the Department of Economic Zone Management) and international organizations, especially UNIDO and SECO.

As the state management agency of industrial parks and economic zones in the area, Head of the Board Mr. Le Trung Kien pledged that the Hai Phong Economic Zone Management Board will strive to build and develop comprehensive, effective and sustainable ecological industrial parks in the area; actively provide comprehensive and effective support for DEEP C Industrial Park and industrial parks in the city so that Hai Phong can quickly become the first and typical ecological industrial park in the country.

Initial results and orientation for developing eco-industrial parks in Hai Phong

On behalf of the Hai Phong Economic Zone Management Board, Mr. Bui Ngoc Hai, Deputy Head of the Hai Phong Economic Zone Management Board, emphasized the viewpoint of Hai Phong City in general and the Hai Phong Economic Zone Management Board in particular, which is the “Say moi” mindset, so when receiving any request or proposal from the Ministry of Planning and Investment as well as relevant parties on the implementation of eco-industrial parks, the City actively and effectively supports and is ready to participate.

Mr. Hai continued to say that currently in the city, there are 2 units proposing to implement eco-industrial parks, namely Dinh Vu Industrial Park Joint Stock Company (investor of Dinh Vu Industrial Park) and Shinec Joint Stock Company (investor of Nam Cau Kien Industrial Park). The companies are proactively and step by step implementing eco-industrial parks according to the guidance in Decree 82/ND-CP dated May 22, 2018 of the Government.

Thus, on the total area of ​​12 Hai Phong Industrial Parks under investment (nearly 5,000 hectares), the area of ​​the two Industrial Parks directly implementing ecological Industrial Parks accounts for over 16.5% of the area in the Industrial Parks being implemented in Hai Phong.

Up to now, Shinec Joint Stock Company has installed a solar power system on a part of the Industrial Park with an area of ​​about 339,822 m2, the expected self-supply electricity scale is about 53,319 kWp (Kilowatt-peak). Shinec Joint Stock Company is also actively implementing industrial symbiosis, attracting recycling and waste treatment industries: the company has implemented symbiotic linkage in the plastic industry through attracting a chain of factories with plastic recycling activities, raw material production, industrial symbiosis in the steel industry in the Industrial Park (Viet Nhat High-grade Steel Joint Stock Company) to comprehensively reduce waste in Nam Cau Kien Industrial Park.

Dinh Vu Industrial Park Joint Stock Company is a beneficiary of the Eco-industrial Park project of the Ministry of Planning and Investment. Up to now, the Company has cooperated with DOW Vietnam Chemical Company to implement a pilot project to build internal roads in Deep C Industrial Park from recycled plastic. The pilot project of 200m of road from recycled plastic has been implemented since September 2019 and is continuing to test the construction of internal roads in Deep C2A Industrial Park from recycled plastic with a length of 1,200m. The Company has also proactively researched and tested to implement wind power and solar power projects (installing solar panels on the roofs of secondary investors in the Industrial Park with an area of ​​about 2,865,030 m2, the expected self-supplied electricity scale is about 477,505 kWp).

Regarding the development orientation of ecological industrial parks in Hai Phong, Deputy Head of the Board Bui Ngoc Hai said that Hai Phong currently has 12 industrial parks that have been invested in with a total area of ​​about 4,928 hectares, of which 2 industrial parks have registered to convert to ecological industrial parks, namely Dinh Vu Industrial Park and Nam Cau Kien Industrial Park. Hai Phong’s ambitious goal is that by 2025, Hai Phong will develop 15 more industrial parks with a scale of 6,200 hectares, attracting investment capital of 2.5-3 billion USD each year. Therefore, choosing to develop high-quality industrial parks to promote investment attraction and sustainable development is the most optimal goal that Hai Phong has always aimed for right from the first days of industrial park development.

Right from the beginning, the Hai Phong Economic Zone Management Board has strictly managed all investment projects, considering granting Investment Registration Certificates to projects that are consistent with the planning of industrial parks and functional areas in the economic zone that have been approved; Focus on attracting investment in high-tech projects, advanced technology that creates added value, is environmentally friendly, supporting industrial projects, projects using circular economy, industrial symbiosis; resolutely reject projects that are at risk of causing negative impacts on the environment, generating a lot of wastewater and solid waste. The Management Board directs, encourages and facilitates the gradual conversion of operating industrial parks into ecological industrial parks, building ecological enterprises, initially prioritizing the following industrial parks: Dinh Vu, Deep C2A, Deep C2B, Nam Cau Kien. Coordinate with relevant units to implement labeling and green label certification activities for industrial parks that meet the criteria of ecological industrial parks and ecological industrial park enterprises. Recommend that owners of new infrastructure investment projects apply ecological criteria, build ecological industrial park models right from the planning stage. Along with the ecological development trend, digital transformation associated with the construction of a system of smart industrial parks is also being directed by the City in the direction of closely connecting industrial parks and industrial clusters; between industrial parks and industrial clusters with urban development, and the modernization of rural agriculture to form a sustainable development ecosystem, contributing to the implementation of the goals at COP26 that the Vietnamese Government has committed to./.