Leaders of Hanoi have expressed hope that Singapore would set up the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP), the successful model across Vietnam, in the capital city.

Secretary of the Hanoi Party’s Committee Dinh Tien Dung meets Singaporean Ambassador to Vietnam Jaya Ratnam on Feb 10. Photos: Nhat Lam

Secretary of the Hanoi Party’s Committee Dinh Tien Dung shared the idea with Singaporean Ambassador to Vietnam Jaya Ratnam on Feb 10.

Hanoi’s Party Chief believed that cooperation in this field is “potential” that Singapore and Hanoi should harness, in addition to real estate and craft villages.

In turn, Ambassador Ratnam said Singaporean investors want to expand investment in Hanoi and surrounding areas. For that reason, the Hanoi authority should be proactive in connecting related stakeholders to reach a common voice in the fields that Hanoi is interested in.

The ambassador said with the motto “specific action, specific result” in cooperation, Hanoi and Singapore would soon make dreams come true, especially on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam-Singapore diplomatic relations and the commemoration of the 10th year of Strategic Partnership (1973-2003).

At the meeting, Ambassador Ratnam also stressed the importance of manpower training, eco-tourism, and people-to-people links, adding that political trust would be an advantage in the cooperation.

Supporting his idea, Dung said that the effective anti-pandemic measures and high vaccination rate have enabled Hanoi to reopen the economy, in line with the prime minister’s recovery plans made public in October 2021.

Being the locality with the fastest vaccination rollout, Hanoi now has 99% of the population aged above 12 administered with two doses and 40% of the city’s adults given the booster shots. The good medical system has allowed 95% of 160,000 Covid-19 patients in Hanoi to be treated at home while the fatality rate is around 0.4% of the total infections.

Flexible adaptation to Covid-19 has helped Hanoi protect and maintain operations of industrial parks. As a result, its industrial index in 2021 reached 4.78%. The gross regional domestic product (GRDP) was 2.92% in 2021, higher than the national rate of 2.58%.

Notably, Hanoi has maintained the execution of long-term projects amid the pandemic, including those in Belt Road No.4 and upgrading degraded residential apartments, to ensure its sustainable development.

Map of the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) in Vietnam. Image: Alobendo

Seeking more cooperation

Seeking measures to boost Singapore’s investment in Hanoi has been done long before. In June 2021, the Hanoi Party Chief met Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan to discuss the issues.

Therefore, Hanoi expected to see more Singaporean inflows into smart cities, planning, training qualified human resources, environmental protection, and urban technical investment.

Hanoi is home to 434 projects financed by Singaporean investors with a combined registered capital of US$7.43 billion, the amount which is second only to Japan’s.

VSIP, a flagship project initiated by the governments of Vietnam and Singapore, has become a symbol of burgeoning economic ties.

The VSIP was first mooted in 1994 by then-prime ministers Goh Chok Tong and Vo Van Kiet. In 1996, this concept had materialized into a 1000-hectare park in the southern province of Binh Duong.

VSIP is a joint venture between Vietnam state-owned enterprise Becamex IDC Corporation and a Singapore consortium led by Sembcorp Development.

Equipped with prepared land plots, ready-built factories and Singapore-style management expertise, the park offers modern infrastructure solutions to foreign and domestic companies keen to tap on Vietnam’s growing labor force and resource advantage.

Main investment projects in VSIP include electronics, automotive components, consumer goods, and pharmaceuticals.

After 25 years, the number of VSIP has reached 10, covering 10,000 hectares in seven key economic zones across Vietnam namely Binh Duong, Hai Duong, Haiphong, Bac Ninh, Nghe An, and Quang Ngai. Among those, the VSIP I in Binh Duong’s Thuan An City has now become one of the leading industrial parks in Vietnam.

VSIP has supplied production infrastructure to nearly 900 clients from more than 30 countries and territories, with a total investment of US$15 billion and creating jobs for more than 300,000 local and foreign experts, engineers, and workers.