Time to get green and clever

Ho Chi Minh People’s Committee deputy chairman Nguyen Trung Tin said in 2011 the city authorities highlight wooing investment projects employing hi-tech and green technologies capable of turning out competitive items with high added values and those using less manual workers.

“To appeal investors, industrial zones’ (IZs) infrastructure firms are required to put into place standard workspace areas with available industrial services facilities compatible to software and information technology sectors,” Tin said.

According to Ho Chi Minh City Export Processing Zones and Industrial Zones Authority (Hepza), the city’s IZs and EPZs lured in $1.045 billion worth in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first quarter of 2011, up 12.7 fold on-year and $118.28 million in domestic investment capital.

Of the FDI projects, US-based First Solar Group’s solar cell plant  project costs VND1 billion and is positioned in Cu Chi district’s South-East IZ.

“Hepza is in a position to make its target of attracting $1.4 billion in total investment capital in 2011 achievable,”  said Hepza chief Vu Van Hoa.

 In southern Binh Duong province, since early year the provincial IZ Authority licenced five domestic investment projects worth VND533 billion ($25.7 million), six FDI projects valued at over $18 million and gave the nod for 13 on-going FDI projects to add around $29.7 million to their current working capital.

Binh Duong IZ Authority head Tran Van Lieu said with inclusive transport infrastructure now available the province’s IZs in rural and remote areas can now appeal investors. For example, South Korean-based Yong Ho Vina Construction Company Limited recently brought online its 1.5ha spiral steel production plant costing $5 million at Ben Cat district’s Bau Bang IZ.

In Dong Nai province, the provincial IZ Authority (DIZA) licensed 42 FDI projects capitalised $374.5 million in 2010 and early months of 2011. Besides, 61 existing FDI projects asked for a total supplemental capital of $906 million.

Enterprise income tax incentives should be extended to both newly established and expansion projects to get more and more investors coming to work at IZs, said a DIZA representative.

He revealed that Loteco is building Loteco 2 IZ over 200ha in Long Thanh district. The firm does not be given the enterprise income tax incentive since under governmental Decree 124/2008/ND-CP guiding the implementation of some articles in Enterprise Income Tax Law, developer of expanded project is not liable to enjoy enterprise income tax incentives.