Industrial parks, export zones eye high value-added products

HCM City industrial parks and export processing zones will continue to give priority to industries with high value-added products and services, high technologies, and low labour intensity, city officials have said.

Vu Van Hoa, head of the HCM City Export Processing and Industrial Zones Authority, said major sectors to get priority were electronics, communications, information technology, chemistry, pharmaceutical products, mechanical engineering, and food and foodstuff processing.

Support industries and services would also be developed apace, Hoa said.

HEPZA hoped to attract investments of US$2-3 billion in these sectors in the next five years, Hoa told a workshop held in the city last Friday.

The number of skilled workers with at least vocational training degrees in IPs and EPZs would increase to 30-35 per cent by 2015 from 15.6 per cent now, he said.

Investment in infrastructure, training, and administrative reform would be crucial for the development of high-tech industries in IPs and EPZs, Nguyen Anh Ngoc, deputy director of the HCM City Investment and Trade Promotion Centre, said.

Poor infrastructure, including roads, bus stations, water, electricity and communications, and shortage of skilled workers turned away high-tech investors from IPs and EPZs, he said.

Hoa said investment in services like banking and finance, transport, and warehousing and logistics saw sluggish growth in IPs and EPZs, accounting for just 12 per cent of the total investment, due to lack of clear development policies.

As a result, most investors in IPs and EPZs were small and medium-sized businesses in labour-intensive industries like textile and garment, footwear, and electronics, he said.

Textile and garment firms employed 32 per cent of the workforce while electronics and footwear enterprises accounted for 19 per cent and 17 per cent, he added. — VNS

Tags: Vietnam Industrial Parks