Binh Duong Smart City.

Attracting selective investment into industrial parks in Binh Duong Province in the orientation of green growth has produced a positive effect. In May 2024, Danish jewellery manufacturer Pandora Group broke ground on a production facility at the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park III, with a total capital of 150 million USD.

The factory is built following LEED Gold, a leading green building certification. It only uses recycled silver and gold and 100% renewable energy. The facility is expected to create jobs for 7,000 people and has an annual output of 60 million jewellery products.

Also, at the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park III, Danish toymaker Lego is working on the finishing touches of its manufacturing facility. With an investment capital of over 1 billion USD, Lego’s factory in Vietnam is designed to become the group’s most sustainable factory by installing rooftop photovoltaic panels and building a solar farm on an adjacent plot.

Energy from these two sources will meet the factory’s total annual energy demand. The facility will use the most advanced energy-efficient equipment, while buildings and production processes are designed to reduce energy consumption.

Binh Duong is currently home to 4,322 foreign-invested projects with a total capital of nearly 41 billion USD. Director of the Binh Duong Department of Planning and Investment Pham Trong Nhan said the province’s investment attraction policy has now shifted to enterprises with advanced technology and high-added value, having links with domestic companies and local research & development centres.

In addition, the Politburo’s Resolution 24-NQ/TW on development for the southeastern region and the national planning orientation also aim to transform the region of Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai and Binh Duong into a driver of information technology development, attracting the production of IoT and artificial intelligence products.

Taking advantage of the opportunities brought by the fourth industrial revolution, Ho Chi Minh City is reshaping a new industrial development cycle. The city focuses on attracting high-tech and environmentally friendly projects with high added value, while calling on investors to build an ecosystem around them and help domestic enterprises participate in the global supply chain.

In late February 2024, only four months after receiving its investment permit, Dutch company BE Semiconductor Industries N.V. inaugurated a factory in Saigon Hi-tech Park. This is the first company specialising in chip packaging equipment to invest in Vietnam, aiming to provide equipment for the global semiconductor and electronics industry.

With an area of just 2,000 square metres but a capital of nearly 5 million USD for the first stage, the factory provides moulds and advanced accessories for chip packaging machinery.

According to Associate Professor Nguyen Anh Thi, head of the Saigon Hi-tech Park, the city’s synchronous infrastructure and large talent pool in the semiconductor industry are important factors in attracting global semiconductor companies.

Drawing semiconductor companies will make active contributions to the city’s socio-economic development, as well as the southern key economic region, to create jobs and drive the training of semiconductor engineers.

Head of the Management Board of Dong Nai Industrial Parks Nguyen Tri Phuong, said in the first six months of 2024, industrial parks in the province attracted 940 million USD worth of investment. New projects are primarily in semiconductor, electric and electronic parts, mechanical manufacturing, textile and precast metal production. None are on the list of polluting, labour-intensive and low-technology industries.

Substantive effect

According to the Binh Duong People’s Committee, the tasks of renovating the growth model, promoting innovation and creating new values, face a great deal of challenges but with the efforts of the whole political system and the business community, Binh Duong recorded positive economic performance in the first half of the year, with the economic growth rate at 6.19%.

Binh Duong Chairman Vo Van Minh said that the province has incessantly reformed administrative procedures, improved the investment climate and transformed the economy towards green growth. The presence of Lego and Pandora in Binh Duong is evidence of the province’s correct choice and direction in renovating its growth model.

In the meantime, Ho Chi Minh City’s use of science-technology and innovation as new growth drivers has laid a firm foundation to support the startup ecosystem. Specifically, the city has about 2,000 innovation startups, accounting for half of the country’s total, more than 100 venture capital funds and 50 startup assistance organisations. The city also boasts nearly 100 universities, colleges and research institutes, an important resource which brings the city closer to the top 100 cities, with the most dynamic innovation startup ecosystems in the world.

Statistics show that during the 2021-2023 period, the contribution of total factor productivity (TFP) to Ho Chi Minh City’s economy in the four key industrial sectors and nine key service industries reached over 47.2%.

Phan Thi Quy Truc from the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Science and Technology shared that in 2023 alone, the department supported enhancing the innovation capacity for 2,500 enterprises, supported incubation and development for nearly 310 projects, and supported 40 innovation startups to access venture capital.

Similarly, Dong Nai is also taking concrete steps to renovate its growth model. Dong Nai Vice Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Hoang said that to proactively welcome a new wave of high-quality investment from the world’s leading companies, Dong Nai is working to improve the investment climate by simplifying administrative procedures and reducing their processing time, so that enterprises can quickly implement their projects.

In addition, the province is working to establish new industrial parks to meet the requirements of attracting investment. By preparing land, infrastructure and labour, the province strives to create and enhance the development space, laying important groundwork for welcoming new investment waves and helping to promote rapid and sustainable economic growth.