Becamex spearheads IP expansion

The province has consistently ranked among the nation’s top destinations for foreign direct investment (FDI). In the first four months of 2016, Binh Duong attracted US$329 million in registered FDI.

Since the signing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement in February 2016, over US$400 million in FDI capital has been pumped into Binh Duong’s garment and textile industry, excluding billions of dollars spent on the province’s 460 currently active projects.

In a sign of continuing FDI flow into Binh Duong, the local authorities have been approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to develop more industrial parks (IPs) in tune with the demand from foreign investors. Under the master zoning plan, Binh Duong will have 33 concentrated IPs with a combined area of 15,730 hectares by 2020.

In favour of the master zoning plan, local developer Becamex IDC has recently announced the expansion of Bau Bang IP by 1,000ha, raising the total area of the park to over 3,200ha. General director of Becamex Nguyen Van Hung said that the improving economy and numerous free trade agreements signed by Vietnam had drawn more and more international firms to the local IPs.

Around 95 per cent of the land developed in Bau Bang IP’s first phase has already been leased to local and foreign investors, who have pledged a total of $1.2 billion for their projects. The additional 1,000ha of land will go towards the park’s industrial and technical infrastructure.

Since construction began on the 1,000ha expansion, a number of foreign companies have indicated that they will move in. US company TPP Investment LLC signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Becamex IDC on the establishment of a 200ha Vietnam-US industrial zone at Bau Bang IP. 

The zone is expected to cater to foreign investors who are looking to locate factories in Vietnam due to China’s rising costs and shrinking labour force.

The local authorities also have high hopes for the Vietnam-US industrial zone, believing it will encourage American investors to pump more money into Binh Duong following the ratification of the TPP.

Siva Yam, general director of TPP Investment LLC and chairman of the US-China Chamber of Commerce, said that promotion for the new industrial zone was going smoothly. 

Once fully finished, the zone would lease space to foreign investors, such as Advanced Rubber and Tiong Liong Holdings. Becamex IDC is also working with DDK Vietnam to build a specialised zone for bikes and bike components on an 80ha site.

According to Tsai Wen-Jui, DDK Vietnam’s general director, 80 per cent of the site has already been leased due to the eagerness of manufacturers in the sector. Asama Yuh Jiun International Vietnam Co. Ltd, Gold Well Co. Ltd, T-Star Engineering Co. Ltd, Profit Forest International Ltd, New Concept International Co. Ltd, and Juang Jia Guoo are among the companies that have signed MoUs to invest in the specialised zone.

Despite the relatively late development of IPs in Binh Duong, Bau Bang IP has quickly captured the attention of both domestic and foreign investors. In 2015, Polytex Far Eastern Vietnam Co. Ltd decided to inject US$247 million into its auxiliary industrial development project, which covers 400ha of the park. The investment will be increased to US$1 billion upon completion of the initial stages.

The Bau Bang residential and IP complex possesses a convenient transport location near National Highway No.13, an important trading gateway between the southeastern and the Central Highlands regions.

The local authorities are now extending My Phuoc-Tan Van route connecting Bau Bang district with Ho Chi Minh City, Tan Uyen, Phu Giao, and Bau Bang streets. 

When fully finished, Bau Bang IP is expected to link the supply chain of nearby industrial estates in Binh Duong, the southern provinces of Binh Phuoc and Ba Ria-Vung Tau, and Ho Chi Minh City.

Tran Thanh Liem, Chairman of the Binh Duong People’s Committee, requested that Becamex IDC continue its efforts to accelerate the development of infrastructure for Bau Bang IP to satisfy the demand from investors.

Liem also noted that Binh Duong was taking measures to become a centrally-controlled city by 2020. In addition to the IP expansion, the 1,200ha Bau Bang urban area will be developed into a satellite township of Binh Duong New City.

Hung of Becamex IDC said that his firm had already cleared the land for the Bau Bang IP expansion, and it would continue making greater contributions to the socio-economic development of both Bau Bang district and Binh Duong.

Over the past few years, Bau Bang IP and other manufacturing clusters have grown in the northern part of Binh Duong. Thousands of large-scale factories have gradually transformed this part into an industrial hub. 

Becamex IDC aims to build up Bau Bang residential and IP complex using a sustainable development model. With the IP expansion, the population of Bau Bang district is forecast to rise to 200,000, meeting the employment and service demand of investors in the complex. 

An eight-storey administration centre will also be built to satisfy the administrative needs of park residents, with around 500 local officials and civil servants working in the centre.

Becamex IDC plans to upgrade the traffic system around the park and build public amenities, such as hospitals and schools, to create a new integrated industrial township in the northern part of Binh Duong. Its social housing projects have been approved by the local authorities to help stabilise the lives of local people.

Aside from focusing on the integration of the residential and IP complex, Becamex IDC will draw in hi-tech industries that have high added value and are not labour-intensive. The company prioritises large projects with low environmental impacts to ensure the district’s sustainable development.

Yam from TPP Investment LLC said that a good workforce was vital to investment attraction, and that Becamex IDC had worked hard to make both labourers and investors feel that Binh Duong was their second home.

In the same vein, Liem emphasised that the IP expansion would give a favourable start to local socio-economic development in the years to come, while driving robust growth in industrialisation and modernisation in the province.

Becamex IDC has already completed preparations for Vietnam-US industrial zone ’s infrastructure on schedule, affirming the company’s dedication to efficient infrastructure development in IPs not only in Binh Duong, but in other localities as well.

Established in 1976, Becamex IDC and its subsidiaries have developed six IPs covering a total area of about 13,000ha in Binh Duong, a 4500ha IP in Binh Phuoc, and two IPs in the north - the 700ha VSIP Bac Ninh and the 1,600ha VSIP Haiphong.