Creating a legal corridor for the development of ecological industrial parks

Ms. Vuong Thi Minh Hieu - Deputy Director of the Department of Economic Zones Management (Ministry of Planning and Investment) shared:

With the support of many countries, Vietnam has piloted the eco-industrial model since 2014. After 10 years of implementation, up to now, in addition to the pilot, the eco-industrial park (IP) model has also been replicated in a number of localities and achieved economic, social and environmental efficiency.

Ms. Vuong Thi Minh Hieu. Photo: Hieu Cong

Vietnam has issued the first regulations on eco-industrial parks in Decree 82/2018/ND-CP regulating the management of industrial parks and economic zones (EZs). Following that, regulations on eco-industrial parks continue to be completed in Decree 35/2022/ND-CP. In addition to inheriting the conditions and criteria of eco-industrial parks according to Decree 82, Decree 35 has clarified these conditions and criteria for each group of subjects.

During the development process, ecological industry has also been positively received by the business community in industrial parks, however, there are still many difficulties that need to be resolved. What support measures has the Ministry of Planning and Investment taken to develop industrial parks?

- Currently, in addition to converting conventional industrial parks into ecological ones, many industrial infrastructure investors with new ideas are proposing industrial park infrastructure projects following the new ecological industrial model from the beginning, thereby building a sustainable development strategy right from the planning stage, preparing documents for investment approval as well as orienting to attract secondary investors into the industrial park.

The advantage is that we already have 2 Decrees as mentioned above, but these are only legal documents. Currently, localities that proactively orient, encourage and have support mechanisms for the development of industrial parks according to the new model have a lot of room for development.

Because the activities of an industrial park are regulated by many different legal regulations such as: Regulations on investment, land; construction; environment; fire prevention and fighting, etc., some of the difficulties that industrial parks converting to ecological industrial parks are facing are the reuse of wastewater to carry out industrial symbiosis activities as well as access to financial resources, credit, and incentives for this model. Ecological industrial park construction activities require large investment costs, therefore, there should be appropriate incentive policies for investors to motivate them to implement the model in a sustainable manner.

In the short term, the Ministry of Planning and Investment is also coordinating with relevant ministries and sectors in the process of reviewing legal regulations, providing specific comments on amending legal regulations. For example, amending legal regulations on the environment, amending legal regulations on water resources to ensure consistency, helping to remove difficulties and obstacles in the process of implementing industrial symbiosis activities...

Some people say that Vietnam's ecological industrial parks are developing strongly but legal documents are not keeping up, don't you think?

- In the long term, the development of new industrial park models requires a legal framework higher than the Decree. In the process of perfecting the institutions related to the management of industrial parks and economic zones, the Ministry of Planning and Investment is currently consulting and submitting to the Government for consideration and approval of the Proposal to develop the Law on Industrial Parks and Economic Zones, focusing on a number of key points:

Create a unified legal corridor for the construction and operation of industrial parks and economic zones as well as ensure the institutionalization and implementation of the Party and State's guidelines, policies and strategies on sustainable industrial development. Regulate policies to specify contents related to the planning of industrial parks and economic zones and synchronize this planning work with higher-level planning such as national regional planning, regional planning, provincial planning, etc.; mechanisms and policies to encourage the development of new industrial parks and new economic zones, etc.; policies to attract a number of industries with high scientific and technological content, new industries.

For the eco-industrial park model, due to the preferential policy mechanisms currently stipulated in the tax law, it is proposed to develop a Law to guide the addition of some non-tax and financial policy mechanisms such as: Regulations on the operating period of industrial park infrastructure investment projects being higher than that of normal industrial park infrastructure projects, preferential credit conditions to mobilize resources in implementing eco-industrial park initiatives.

An important content of the Law is to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of state management of industrial parks and economic zones according to the "one-stop, on-site" principle, focusing on building state management agencies of industrial parks and economic zones in localities - the Industrial Park and Economic Zone Management Boards - streamlined, with sufficient authority and capacity.

Thank you!

Source: https://laodong.vn/kinh-doanh/tao-hanh-lang-phap-ly-phat-trien-khu-cong-nghiep-sinh-thai-1383780.ldo