Industrial parks need improved oversight

Provincial-level authorities that oversee industrial parks (IP) should appoint representatives to work at each IP in their province to improve management, officials said yesterday, April 22, at a meeting in the southern Dong Nai Province.

Inspector teams should also be set up in each province, they said.

In the south and south central regions, there are no representatives of provincial-level IP authorities working at IPs, except in HCM City and Dong Nai.

Le Anh Tuan, deputy director of HCM City Export Processing and Industrial Zones Authority (HEPZA), said HEPZA’s representatives at each of the city’s 10 IPs and two export processing zones had contributed to better management.

They give HEPZA updated IP information, assist in infrastructure development, and work with local agencies where IPs are located to improve security. Other tasks include dealing with strikes, inspecting businesses in the IP, and assisting trade unions.

Vo Thanh Lap, director of Dong Nai Industrial Parks Authority (DIZA), said it was important to have administrative offices close to the IP activity. Dong Nai has 29 IPs and most of them have representatives.

Tran Van Lieu, director of Binh Duong Industrial Park Authority, said it had three offices that manage 28 IPs.

Le Minh Chau, director of Ba Ria-Vung Tau authority, however, disagreed with the proposals to set up representative offices in every IP.

“There’s no need for the Ba Ria-Vung Tau Industrial Park Authority to assign rep offices,” he said, adding that he could do it by himself.

Chau said the authority manages 14 IPs. “We use trade unions in each IP to settle any strikes and communicate with businesses and workers well,” he said.

However, other authorities at the meeting, including Long An, Tien Giang and Lam Dong, said they would set up representative offices at IPs.

Acting Chief State Inspector Tran Van Nghia said authorities should develop inspection teams to oversee the use of land for infrastructure and the businesses’ operation and compliance with regulations.

“The State Inspectorate doesn’t have enough staff to conduct regular inspections at the sites and we only do reports in case of major issues, like the case of Long An when it set up 50 IPs within a short time,” Nghia said.

Viet Nam News

Tags: Vietnam Industrial Parks