Provinces swing axe at parks

Central Binh Thuan province proposed to remove 11 industrial zones (IZs) covering 430 hectares from its master plan, while Lam Dong will halt industrial clusters and highlight inefficient industrial zones.

This move was made in response to Directive 07/CT-TTg dated March 2, 2012 regarding enhancing economic zones’ management efficiency.

Tran Van Nhut, director of Binh Thuan Provincial Department of Industry and Trade, said the province would reduce its IZs from 40 to 29 and downsize some IZs  from their current plans such as Mui Ne, Tan Lap, Vu Hoa, Me Pu IZs.

Nhut said under Decision 105/2009/QD-TTg, IZs must be in the approved development plans and they must be fulfilled  with a 30 per cent ratio of available land for lease after one year’s operation.

However, most industrial complexes in Binh Thuan did not meet these requirements. La Gi IZ was a typical example. It was awarded to South Korea-based Asian Development Company in 2007, but was not carried out and the province was forced to revoke its investment certificate last year.

The province’s Duc Linh district has six IZs with 26ha, and after 10 years of attracting investments, these areas have yet to have facilities developed. These IZs are facing the chop.

Binh Thuan Provincial People’s Committee Chairman Le Tien Phuong said there were many difficulties in attracting investments at those IZs because development planning was poor.

Meanwhile, investment certificates of five IZs in Central Highland’s Lam Dong province - Da The, Ha Lam, Loc An, Da Rsal and Loc Tien also face withdrawals due to the IZs’ failure to lure investments during 2012-2015.

Lam Dong authorities reported land clearance problems and a shortage of infrastructure were also given as reasons for their proposal to stop operations of the five IZs.