Toshio Kazama, the company’s managing director |
Thanh Bình Phú Mỹ is the developer of the Phú Mỹ 3 Specialised Industrial Park in the southern province of Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu. Việt Nam News speaks with Toshio Kazama, the company’s managing director, about the investment environment in Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu and the park’s efforts to attract more tenants.
Can you tell us about the performance of the Phú Mỹ 3 Specialised Industrial Park since its opening?
Phú Mỹ 3 Specialised Industrial Park (Phú Mỹ 3 SIP) is one of two model industrial parks developed under the co-operation and development agreement signed by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyễn Tấn Dũng and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda in November 2011.
A perfect combination of strategic geographic location, international standard infrastructure, professional consultants and active support from the two Governments is a powerful magnet that attracts investors to Phú Mỹ 3.
Last year Phú Mỹ 3 SIP completed construction of the first phase with world-class infrastructure and utilities.
The industrial park handed over 40ha of land with technical infrastructure to Nitori Furniture Bà Rịa -- Vũng Tàu invested by Nitori Holdings of Japan.
At present the park is proceeding with handover of land to other investors.
We will continue to step up our working programmes with the governments of Việt Nam and Japan and accelerate international co-operation and investment promotion to welcome investors from Japan, Europe, America, and Asia as well as businesses in Việt Nam, offering more incentives to customers and creating socio-economic growth momentum for Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu Province and the Southern Key Economic Zone in general.
There is talk that many major companies do not want to invest in Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu because of complicated investment procedures and issues related to land acquisition. What are your thoughts on this? What are the biggest challenges your industrial zone faces there?
For years Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu Province has championed development of industry through active investment attraction together with environmental control. With this policy, the province attracts foreign investment selectively.
Investment projects associated with port advantages, use of high technology, value addition, low energy consumption, and environment friendliness receive priority.
The procedures for appraising projects take time.
Phú Mỹ 3 SIP, as a key project of Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu Province with a core value of pursuing and creating sustainable development with a strong focus on environment protection, highly appreciates the province’s spirit of sustainable development.
Trusted by Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu Province, the park is now attracting sectors such as heavy industry, chemicals, petrochemicals, basic materials, plating, etc...
But balancing the province’s investment procedures and satisfying investors’ demand is challenging. Each industrial park should have its own investment promotion strategy in line with the policy of the province. However, reducing the time taken to issue licences, streamlining procedures and creating favourable conditions for investors and enterprises is a key mission of the province.
Phú Mỹ 3 Specialised Industrial Park |
In Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu and its neighbouring provinces, there are many industrial parks. What does your company do to attract tenants and be more competitive?
Built on an area of 999ha in Phước Hoà Commune, Tân Thành District, Phú Mỹ 3 SIP possesses many strengths that appeal to investors. The master plan of the park was designed by professional international consultancy firms Nikken Sekkei and Nippon Koei to meet the diverse demands of a wide range of sectors from light industry to heavy industry, multi-sectoral industry, ports and logistics.
This advantage will enable the park to attract investment following the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and the upcoming Việt Nam – Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).
Another advantage for the park is its favourable location with excellent access to key traffic infrastructure such as National Highway 51, National Highway 1A, Hồ Chí Minh – Long Thành Dầu Giây Expressway, Biên Hòa – Vũng Tàu Expressway, Trans – Asia Road, inter-regional highways, inter-port roads and inter-industrial zone roads. It is 65km from Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport and 28 km from Long Thành New International Airport.
Such convenient transportation allows customers to save much time and cost. Moreover, it is very easy to reach the Cái Mép – Thị Vải deep-water seaport (only 4km), which is capable of accommodating vessels of up to 200,000 DWT and developing into an international hub for trade and transportation.
It also has world-class technical infrastructure and utilities designed and built by professional contractors from Japan with the aim of best serving investors. Accordingly, the park has four specialised functional areas: a supporting industries zone, a heavy industries zone, a port and logistics zone, and an administrative and service area.
Furthermore, Phu My 3 SIP is fuelled by rich natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas and condensate, and tenants have an assured and steady supply of electricity and water.
How do you plan to increase your occupation rate?
With the aim of becoming a model industrial park belonging to the province-based economic growth programme of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Phú Mỹ 3 SIP has not only comprehensively developed infrastructure (electricity, water, internet, gas etc…) but also provides all kinds of investment support services in Japanese, English and Vietnamese.
The industrial park is committed to providing the highest incentives and best business condition to its tenants. The legal consultancy and support team of the industrial park will assist customers in dealing with all aspects related to investment procedures, legal issues, recruitment, logistics and on-site customs services.
With a business philosophy of “Customer is First,” in which customers are placed on top, our management board is always ready to resolve all difficulties and clear all obstacles for investors and acts as a bridge between investors and local authorities, helping simplify administrative procedures and reduce processing time.
Being a modern and environmentally sustainable industrial park is the operating principle of Phú Mỹ 3 SIP. VNS