About 40-50% of localities in Vietnam have plans to turn existing industrial parks into eco-industrial parks by 2030, and between 8 to 10 % of them will build new ecological parks.
The shift is coming, experts say, as part of an important trend in industrial and economic development in Vietnam. The model not only brings financial benefits to businesses and the community, but also positively contributes to environmental protection and improves workers' quality of life.
The eco-industrial park is a special model in which businesses participate in production activities to create green products and optimise resource use. This industrial park model focuses on the connection and cooperation between businesses in the same industrial park to promote symbiotic production activities, ensuring sustainability and contributing to the sustainable development of the industrial sector as a whole.
In recent years, FDI capital in industrial parks and economic zones has accounted for about 35 – 40% of the total additional registered FDI capital of the country.
A survey by Savills Vietnam shows that, although the number of eco-industrial parks currently is still limited, the demand for this type of real estate is set to grow substantially.
Senior Manager of the Industrial Real Estate Department of Savills Hanoi, Thomas Rooney said that most existing industrial park projects were developed according to traditional models and had not applied sustainable design solutions.
“The development of green industrial parks is currently in the early stages and will be a long-term story,” said Rooney.
According to experts, eco-industrial parks are also a tool to achieve sustainable development goals following three pillars - the economy, society and the environment. Sustainable development is increasingly becoming an overarching trend and green economic development and creating a circular economy are currently the development model chosen by many countries.
According to the Deputy Director of the Department of Economic Zones Management, Ministry of Planning and Investment, Vuong Thi Minh Hieu, said that the eco-industrial park model towards sustainable development has been implemented since the 1990s and achieved many positive results in countries such as Denmark, the Republic of Korea, Japan, and China.
In Vietnam, green economic development and circular economy have received special attention from the Party and State, included in major and important policies. With the efforts and determination of the Government and the support of international organisations and experts, Vietnam recently has piloted the conversion of many industrial parks from traditional models into eco-industrial parks by promoting cleaner production and linking cooperation in production to more effectively use resources.
Since 2014, the Ministry of Planning and Investment has coordinated with international organisations and cooperation from foreign partners to form and develop a sustainable eco-industrial park model on the three pillars. The ministry has coordinated with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) to carry out the pilot implementation in three local areas, including Ninh Binh, Da Nang, and Can Tho.
From 2020 to 2024, with financial support from the Swiss Government, the Ministry of Planning and Investment continued to coordinate with UNIDO to expand eco-industrial park model and achieved encouraging results in three localities of Hai Phong, Dong Nai and HCM City.
Industrial park infrastructure investors also proposed many new eco-industrial park infrastructure investment projects from the beginning with stronger commitments to sustainable development strategies right from the planning stage, preparing documents to approach investment policies as well as orientation to attract secondary investors.
With 25 years of experience, IDICO is a pioneer in the journey of developing industrial park real estate in Vietnam. To date, IDICO has invested in and operated a system of 12 industrial parks across the country with a total area of nearly 4,000 hectares, attracting more than 400 businesses, including major investors such as Suntory Pepsico, Fujiya, Hyosung, and Messer.
Deputy General Director of IDICO Corporation Phan Van Chinh said that the company had proactively launched the journey to realise the goal of developing sustainable, modern and environmentally friendly industrial parks.
“IDICO has pioneered the transformation of the development model of industrial parks towards green and sustainable orientation, to become a typical model of ecologically oriented smart industrial parks in Vietnam to meet the diverse and increasingly demanding needs of domestic and international businesses,” said Chinh.
IDICO initially is converting from traditional industrial parks to green industrial parks in Phu My II Industrial Park and the expanded Phu My II, becoming the first eco-industrial park model in the area, according to Chinh.
IDICO currently has been implementing many practical solutions, such as applying advanced technology to minimize the amount of waste and emissions into the environment and using a smart industrial park monitoring platform that allows for effective management and monitoring of energy use.
Kingspan, an investor from Ireland and also a strategic partner of IDICO in the expanded Phu My II Industrial Park, said that Kingspan Phu My recently completed the installation of a solar power system on the entire roof of the factory. The system is expected to help reduce more than 1,000 tonnes of CO2 per year, significantly contributing to the company’s on-site energy production target of 20%.
The project is not only a Kingspan’s commitment to the environment but also demonstrates its sustainable companionship of businesses operating in IDICO's industrial park system.
Developing industrial parks following ecological models will not only help businesses here meet strict export standards but also create a sustainable production ecosystem, contributing to the goal of reducing emissions and moving towards net zero./.
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