Dong Nai: Investors eye industrial parks beyond centre
Industrial parks located in mountainous areas or far from downtown Dong Nai province have caught eyes of more investors since early 2016 thanks to local efforts to develop transport infrastructure.
According to the Dong Nai Industrial Zones Authority (DIZA), Long Khanh Industrial Park in Long Khanh town welcomed 43 projects, worth more than US$100 million since the beginning of last year while over US$80 million from 11 projects landed in Nhon Trach III Industrial Park in Nhon Trach district. Four investment projects bumped more than US$130 million into Dau Giay Industrial Park in Thong Nhat district.
It was estimated that the money poured in these IPs in combine accounted for over 40% of the total newly-registered investment of the province.
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| An industrial park in southern Dong Nai province. (Photo: baomoi.com) |
DIZA deputy head Mai Van Nhon said all the three parks are situated far from Bien Hoa city of the southern province. The locations seemed to make them less attractive than others as only few businesses, mostly in textile and footwear, settled there in the past.
Roughly 30% of land in Long Khanh Industrial Park was leased to ten investors in 2015, seven years after the park was rolled out in 2008. But thing has changed, the industrial park has seen a dramatic rise in leasing applications over the last year, leading to a demand for more land. The province has proposed the government to expand the estate by 200 hectares, added to the existing area of 180 hectare, Nhon said.
He noted fast infrastructure development that has made the IPs more accessible by roads is the main reason behind that. Additionally, Bien Hoa city, Trang Bom and Long Thanh districts where industries were earlier developed have become short of worker supply so that investors had to turn their head to other areas with larger labour pool.
Dong Nai currently hosts 32 industrial parks, covering a total area of 10,240 hectares, of which approximately 4,900 hectares, or over 71%, have been leased.
By the end of 2016, the province had 1,253 valid foreign invested projects with total registered capital of US$25.7 billion, with the Republic of Korea, Taiwan (China) and Japan being the largest investors.
