Groundbreaking ceremony for the Thuận Thành 3 Industrial Park – Sub-area C, which creates additional space to attract high-tech investment in Bắc Ninh City. — Photos courtesy of Bắc Ninh City

BẮC NINH — After many years of rapid development in the electronics industry, Bắc Ninh City is expanding its industrial space and creating land reserves and infrastructure to attract high-tech projects.

The city targets to upgrade from its strength in manufacturing and assembly to higher-technology, higher-value-added stages of production.

Expanding land reserves

Within the expanded industrial space, the Nghĩa Hưng Industrial Park in Tiên Lục Commune is a project with a relatively clear sectoral orientation.

Having broken ground last month, the 148.68-ha industrial park is designed to attract electronics, semiconductor, computer and optical products; mechanical engineering and precision engineering; electrical machinery and equipment; automotive components, aviation parts and components; supporting industries, logistics and high-tech research.

An artist’s impression of the Nghĩa Hưng Industrial Park in Tiên Lục Commune, Bắc Ninh City. The park is designed to attract high-tech sectors including electronics, semiconductors, precision engineering, supporting industries and logistics.

Hoàng Tiến Đạt, General Director of the Gilimex Industrial Park Corporation, said that infrastructure of the Nghĩa Hưng Industrial Park had been designed to meet the requirements of high-tech industrial projects.

The park has a planned power supply capacity of 81MVA, a water supply system of approximately 8,200cu.m per day and night, internal roads 19.5–48m wide, and a centralised wastewater treatment plant with a capacity of 4,900cu.m per day and night.

To the south of the city, the Thuận Thành 3 Industrial Park – Sub-area C has also recently broken ground, opening up additional investment space with strong connectivity advantages.

The project gives priority to electronics, high technology, mechanical engineering, precision engineering, machinery, equipment, components, aviation parts, and supporting industries.

To date, approximately 83ha of land in the Thuận Thành 3 Industrial Park – Sub-area C have been cleared through compensation and site handover. Ground levelling, internal roads and infrastructure packages are now being implemented.

These are conditions for the city to continue attracting electronics, semiconductor, supporting-industry and high-tech projects, thereby gradually raising Bắc Ninh’s position in higher-value-added production chains.

Improving investment quality

An aerial view of the Gia Bình Airport construction site in Bắc Ninh City.

The expansion of industrial space is taking place on the foundation of an already large-scale manufacturing system, enabling Bắc Ninh City both to broaden investment attraction and to raise its requirements for selecting capital flows aligned with its high-tech orientation.

According to the socio-economic report for the first nine months this year, industry remains the main driver of growth, as the city gradually shifts from a large-scale manufacturing and assembly centre to a high-tech industrial centre.

The industrial production index for the first nine months is estimated to have increased by 20.16 per cent, with the manufacture of electronic products, computers and optical products rising by 22.58 per cent.

Nguyễn Văn Hưởng, deputy director of the Bắc Ninh Department of Finance, said the city prioritised high-tech, clean and environmentally friendly projects with high added value that used little land and labour but deliverd high investment intensity and economic efficiency.

Selected projects must also be capable of creating linkages with domestic enterprises, participating more deeply in supply chains and contributing more to local economic growth.

Among these sectors, electronics and semiconductors provide the foundation for Bắc Ninh to develop high-tech industries. The city currently has nearly 1,300 enterprises operating in the electronics sector, employing approximately 481,900 workers.

At the same time, Bắc Ninh faces the need to develop infrastructure better suited to high-tech industries. The city does not yet have an industrial park planned and equipped exclusively for the semiconductor industry.

Some essential infrastructure, such as ultra-pure water systems and stable, uninterrupted power supplies meeting international standards for high-tech manufacturing, has yet to be developed in a coordinated manner.

There is also a shortage of specialised, highly skilled technical human resources for the semiconductor industry.

Therefore, alongside expanding land reserves, Bắc Ninh is accelerating the completion of transport infrastructure and industrial park and cluster infrastructure, developing logistics services, training human resources and reforming administrative procedures.

Infrastructure construction at the Thuận Thành 3 Industrial Park – Sub-area C is being accelerated, with approximately 50ha expected to be ready for handover to secondary investors in the fourth quarter this year.

Kim Sung Hun, general director of the Amkor Technology Việt Nam LLC, said: “We chose Bắc Ninh because the locality has formed an electronics manufacturing ecosystem, has well-developed industrial park infrastructure, an abundant workforce and convenient connectivity with global supply chains. These are important conditions for Amkor to develop advanced semiconductor packaging and testing operations, while expanding cooperation with domestic enterprises and suppliers.” — VNS