After 25 years of constant development, the DEEP C Industrial Zones cluster has proved to be one of the most successful models of its kind in the country, contributing to the socioeconomic development of the northern city of Haiphong and playing a compelling role in the Hanoi-Haiphong-Quang Ninh economic triangle in northern Vietnam. With a storied history and vast competitive advantages, the project is now pivoting to a more sustainable future.

DEEP C Industrial Zones

The cluster debuted with the Dinh Vu Industrial Zone (DVIZ) development project in Haiphong in 1997. Based on worldwide experience in IZ development, Filip Martens, founder of DVIZ, shared an ambitious vision with Haiphong to turn the marshy and deserted area into a dynamic multi-functioning industrial centre. This vision came true, and now DEEP C is an industrial and logistics powerhouse of northern Vietnam.

DVIZ was a cooperative joint-venture project between Haiphong People’s Committee and Belgian shareholders, initially covering 116 hectares. Over time it grew to more than 3,400ha of industrial land for lease, forming the cluster of five industrial zones (IZs) integrated with liquid cargo terminals. The cluster comprises three IZs – DEEP C Haiphong I, II, III – with a total area of more than 1,700ha based in Haiphong and two others in the nearby province of Quang Ninh.

Major benefits

Transport infrastructure is one of the Belgian-managed IZ’s most significant competitive advantages. Thanks to its central location in a multimodal transport network with deep-water seaports, international airports, and highways, businesses can easily connect with the rest of the world.

The new Haiphong-Halong-Van Don-Mong Cai Expressway will significantly reduce the time it takes to transport goods from Haiphong to southern China and vice versa, together with Lach Huyen deep-sea port.

“The sellable land area under the management of the cluster represents approximately 20 per cent of the total available industrial land of the north,” said Bruno Jaspaert, general director of the complex.

“However, currently, we only have 1,840ha of land available for rent, yet the rent demand has increased rapidly to 2,000ha. Despite the pandemic, our investment portfolio doubled in 2020 and 2021 and will witness speedy growth by the end of this year. This means DEEP C needs to expand faster by launching a new IZ that can accommodate more investors,” he said.

The IZ cluster provides products and services, including industrial land and ready-built factories and warehouses for lease, port development and operation, utility supply and distribution, and renewable energy production. Large investors do not simply look for a Vietnamese full-package IZ location for their project but a full-package IZ to help them focus on developing their business with long-term output in manufacturing.

EU and US companies also want to cooperate with IZ management boards that share similar standards, such as standards on IZ management, labour safety, and sustainable development. As a Belgian-managed IZ, the standards applied at the cluster meet the requirements of demanding investors.

As a result, the zones have attracted more than 140 investors with a total investment value surpassing $5 billion, creating more than 30,000 jobs for workers in Haiphong and neighbouring localities.

“The goal of DEEP C Industrial Zones is not only to attract investment but also to build a business community that shares common sustainable development values through the development of an eco-IZ model. Going forward, we will continue to focus on renewable energy projects, develop industrial symbiosis opportunities in our IZs, and recycling solutions to bring environmental, economic, and social benefits,” said Koen Soenens, DEEP C general sales and marketing director.

Director of Haiphong Economic Zones Management Authority Le Trung Kien said, “The cluster has become a prestigious brand name of IZs in the north of Vietnam, with active contribution to spurring Haiphong FDI growth. Hopefully, DEEP C continues developing the IZ complex into a component that is leading in driving municipal economic development based on high-tech industry, seaport logistics, trade, and tourism.”

DEEP C is an industrial and logistics powerhouse of northern Vietnam

Sustainable development

The IZ project has teamed up with US-backed DOW Chemical Company Vietnam on a project building recycled-plastic internal roads at DEEP C Industrial Zones. The pilot 1,200m road project made from recycled plastic started construction in September 2019.

The road section from plastic scrap is adjacent to a common road built using conventional asphalt techniques to control the quality of the work. The project aims to promote Vietnam’s circular economy and seek an output market for plastic waste.

By 2020, the first rooftop solar panel on the 20,000sq.m factory was put into operation with a capacity of 3MWp, helping to attract other companies to sublease the roofs of their factories. The company’s rooftop solar panel installed capacity is expected to exceed 20MWp by 2023.

Each 1MWp solar project in DEEP C saves more than 42,000 mature trees and reduces over 1,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions yearly. The cluster intends to achieve 120MWp solar capacity by 2030.

By the end of 2021, a wind turbine with a height reaching 100m and a longer propeller than the original version to optimise wind power was delivered into service, supplying 2.3MW of electricity directly to the DEEP C internal grid. The $10 million turbine not only brings green energy but also changes the landscape and is one of the first IZs to use renewable energy from wind for industrial production. By 2030, the cluster will be self-sufficient in power demands, using renewable energy, and from there, study new technologies towards reaching the future of total power self-sufficiency.

The company also aims to develop a professional power company that operates and supplies renewable energy, including wind power, solar power, biomass power, and liquefied natural gas.

In 2021, DEEP C was one of the first five IZs selected by the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization to pilot the transformation to an eco-IZ model using the circular economy. This makes it easier for the projects to attract socially and socially responsible investors.

The group has embraced developing a green IZ encompassing clean energy facilities, clean water production with green energy, international standard waste collection and treatment, and research on water treatment by wind power in Cat Hai island to provide clean water for 4,000 households on the island.

DEEP C’s sustainable development strategy is also demonstrated in a plan to conserve mangroves, attaching industrial development to nature conservation. During the seaport development process at DEEP C Quang Ninh, the mangroves have been preserved to replace green trees and recreational areas, creating buffer forests and reducing the need for sea dyke design.

In addition, DEEP C Farm is a social non-profit with a sustainable twist. The initiative aims to provide organic fruit, vegetables, chicken, or fish to employees at the cluster. Developed on 3.5ha in Haiphong suburbs, the project funded by DEEP C entities encompasses a production farm and training centre and collaborates with agriculture experts, scientists, local farmers, and the local authorities. The farm is the flagship of IZ’s sustainable development strategy and aims to become organic and fair trade certified.

The cluster has also established an in-house nursery and a wetland green zone in Haiphong to preserve local fauna and flora. Considering sustainable development as its linchpin strategy, DEEP C aims to realise corporate social responsibility for the cluster and all operating businesses based in the IZ.