Dung Quat Economic Zone aims high

The zone offers strategic investment advantages

Le Van Dung, deputy director of Dung Quat Economic Zone Management Authority, said the authority expected that there would be a plenty of manufacturing projects flocking in the zone, following the investments of VSIP and Sembcorp Industries.

VSIP, short for Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park and Township Development, last September signed a memorandum of understanding with the province to conduct a comprehensive feasibility study of a 1,020 hectare integrated township and industrial park in Dung Quat, its fifth industrial park and township integrated project in Vietnam.

The proposed development comprises a 500ha industrial park located within this zone, where government-supported special economic zone incentives are made available to manufacturers. Separately, under consideration is 520ha zoned for commercial and residential purposes near downtown Quang Ngai city.

Sembcorp Industries, last month, also signed a memorandum of understanding with Quang Ngai Provincial People’s Committee to start exploring the feasibility of developing a 1,200 megawatt coal-fired power plant in Dung Quat Economic Zone.

“These two infrastructure projects are very significant to the zone’s development. VSIP is a well-known industrial park developer in Vietnam and could bring its potential customers here, while Sembcorp’s investment would ease the concern of power shortage,” said Dung.

“Once those two projects are developed here, I believe many foreign and domestic manufacturers will eye Dung Quat as the best choice for making investment in the central region,” Dung added.

According to VSIP, Dung Quat is located 100 kilometres from Danang and is ideal for labour intensive fast moving consumer goods and food and beverage manufacturing, serving both the northern and southern economic zones of Vietnam in addition to its central markets that stretch from Thua Thien-Hue to Phu Yen provinces.

The Vietnamese government has plans to build an expressway linking Quang Ngai and Danang, while it is also planning to upgrade Chu Lai airport, close to Dung Quat zone, to make it one of the largest cargo transshipment airports in Southeast Asia.  These projects would further improve the infrastructure system connecting to the zone.

To date, Dung Quat Economic Zone Management Authority has granted investment certificates to 111 projects with total committed capital of around $8 billion, of which $4.8 billion has been disbursed.

Among these large projects, PetroVietnam is running an oil refinery there, Korean Doosan Heavy Industries has built a $300 million manufacturing factory and Taiwanese E-United Group is expected to start construction of its $4.5 billion steel manufacturing factory in the zone.