Industrial parks are aiming for more sustainable development. Photo: ST

It is difficult for businesses to sell small parts

Vietnam has 16 signed Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and 3 FTAs under negotiation. According to experts, these FTAs often make requirements on industry chains, value chains and green production stages. Meanwhile, the country has about 418 established industrial parks, of which 298 are in operation with a total area of about 92.2 thousand hectares. Therefore, the space and opportunities for businesses to develop and link in the industrial park are huge.

But reality shows that currently, up to 98% of the total number of businesses in our country is small and medium-sized. Although there are many contributions to socio-economic development, most of them have not participated in the value chain or production chain of large enterprises and multinational corporations. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the whole country has about 5,000 processing enterprises participating in providing components and spare parts for the automotive and mechanical industries. Of these, 70% of businesses participate in supplying domestic manufacturers, 8% supply to exporters and 17% participate in supplying both. Thus, only about 30% of Vietnamese supporting industry enterprises can participate in the global supply chain and value chain.

Not only that, the domestic supply chain is also facing difficulties for many businesses due to lack of resources and connectivity. According to Mr. Phan Dang Tuat, Chairman of the Vietnam Supporting Industry Association, in the current period of globalization, supporting industry enterprises find it difficult to sell small parts, so they are forced to manufacture part assemblies.

Also talking about the difficulties of businesses, an industrial parts and accessories manufacturing business shared that due to a lack of expertise and technology, businesses are still struggling to find a place and position in the production chain. Meanwhile, cooperation between businesses in the same industry and production area is still weak, unable to create a highlight for domestic businesses to catch the attention of foreign businesses.

Find a way to "symbiotic"

Therefore, experts and businesses say that businesses need horizontal and vertical connections in industrial clusters and industrial parks to cooperate in production and join the value chain. At the same time, mechanisms and policies are needed to form industrial parks for each industrial sector with the creation of an ecosystem that meets sustainable development standards as well as many activities to support Trade connections between businesses.

Talking at the recent Forum for Promoting Sustainable Development of Vietnam's Industrial Parks, citing experience from abroad, Ms. Vuong Thi Minh Hieu, Deputy Director of the Department of Economic Zone Management, Ministry of Planning and Investment, said, Denmark's Kalundborg industrial park has built a closed cycle and linkage capabilities, including 11 participating businesses benefiting from 7 cooperation networks, material exchange and 6 cooperation systems of exchange on water and energy, thereby reducing costs of businesses in the network, increasing the level of connection and development of production activities. Or the Korean eco-industrial park has been expanded to 150, helping manufacturing businesses combine to implement greener and cleaner solutions, save costs and optimize their production activities.

Therefore, for Vietnam, the representative of the Department of Economic Zone Management emphasized the role of the Provincial People's Committees in supporting investment in construction and upgrading of technical and social infrastructure projects, inside and outside the industrial park fence to support connection as well as transfer of advanced technology in the industrial park. Businesses are recommended to increase cooperation to use common production infrastructure systems, and can combine with third-party businesses outside industrial parks to realize industrial symbiotic connections.

Also on this issue, from the perspective of investors developing industrial parks, Mr. Ling Foong, Director of Sustainable Development of Frasers Property Vietnam, said that industrial parks need to go through stages of transition from industrial parks to industrial parks of a smart satellite urban industrial model to be able to meet production and living factors. Because Vietnam is becoming attraction for industrial production and logistics, developing and linking businesses in industrial parks is increasingly focused on bringing an effective, economical business environment, saving operating costs.

Sharing the same opinion, according to Ms. Tran Thi To Loan, Deputy General Director of Sao Do Investment Group, with regard to regulations on cooperation in production, to realize industrial "symbiosis" not only in production, but businesses can also "symbiotically" start from small issues such as services, sharing utilities, infrastructure or reusing waste... to increase the ability to connect, cooperate and support to develop together.