HCMC targets lower investments in IPs this year An export processing zone in HCMC. HEPZA has set this year’s investment attraction target US$200 million lower than last year - PHOTO: LE HOANG According to a HEPZA representative, fresh and additional capital registered at the city's industrial parks and export processing zones exceeded US$760 million last year, up 52% against the 2020 target and 17% against 2019. Commenting on the result, the HEPZA representative said that available land for investors is limited. HCMC's industrial parks now have only some 120 hectares ready to be leased but at different locations. Meanwhile, a large-scale project normally requires a large land site. “Accordingly, to attract large-scale investments, the land sites need to be large, whereas the biggest site currently available is smaller than five hectares,” said Tran Viet Ha, head of investment at HEPZA. Besides the fact that many investors are cautious due to Covid-19, investors renting already built workshops are mostly small-scale ones. As a result, ready-built, multi-level workshops for big projects are unable to find tenants. According to Hua Quoc Hung, head of HEPZA, many foreign businesses and diplomatic missions in HCMC have spoken highly of HCMC’s and Vietnam’s coronavirus prevention efforts and investment environment. “Therefore, many businesses have shown interest and sought investment opportunities in HCMC this year. However, one of the difficulties faced by HCMC is that it has less industrial land and, thus, it is essential to choose investment projects carefully,” said Hung. The slow implementation of new industrial parks as a result of site clearance and compensation problems is another hindrance, which is likely to greatly affect HEPZA's investment attraction efforts in the coming time. HEPZA will work toward the operation of the Pham Van Hai industrial park as a hi-tech one and the Hiep Phuoc industrial park’s …
