Soai Rap Petroleum Service Industrial Zone to be revoked

Soai Rap Petroleum Service Industrial Zone to be revoked

Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung recently asked the Tien Giang People’s Committee to revoke Soai Rap Petroleum Service IZ and called on the investor to transfer the project to other investors.

Besides, the DPM assigned the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and relevant authorities to monitor the revocation and transfer of the project.

Covering an area of 285 hectares, the project was licensed in March 2011. However, after three years, the IZ had only one tenant.

As a result, in October 2014, the government approved in principle to transfer the IZ to the Tien Giang People’s Committee to manage according to the IZ development planning by 2015, with vision to 2020.

However, the transfer has yet to be completed despite repeated urging from the government.

The Soai Rap project is just one black spot in the bright picture of the local industrial real estate segment.

According to MPI’s Economic Zones Management Department, there are 328 IZs across the country at present, taking up a total area of 96,300 hectares of natural land. Of this, 223 zones have been put in operation and 105 are in the process of site clearance and compensation. Occupancy reached 51.5 per cent overall, and 73 per cent at operating IZs.

In addition, Vietnam also has 17 coastal economic zones (EZs) established on a land and water surface area of approximately 845,000ha, not to mention Ninh Co EZ in the northern province of Nam Dinh, which is included in the planning but has not been established yet.

IZs with high occupancy rates include Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park III in the southern province of Binh Duong or Que Vo I, Que Vo II, Tien Son, and Yen Phong I in the northern province of Bac Ninh, with the average occupancy rate of 85 per cent.