NDO/VNA – The Ministry of Planning and Investment, in collaboration with the UN Industrial Development Organisation and the Management Board of Industrial Zones (IZs), and Export Processing Zones (EPZs), held a seminar in Ho Chi Minh City on March 29, discussing how to turn IZs and EPZs into eco-industrial parks (EIPs).

This is among the activities within the framework of the project on establishing EIPs in Vietnam following the Global Eco-Industrial Parks Programme (GEIPP), in which Hiep Phuoc IZ is selected to be the first in Ho Chi Minh City to pilot the model.

Speaking at the event, Pham Thanh Truc, deputy head of Management Board of IZs and EPZs in Ho Chi Minh City, said that after 30 years of construction and development, IZs and EPZs in the city have gained certain achievements, making positive contributions to the industrialisation and modernisation of the country. However, there remain certain limitations.

Sharing the same view, Nguyen Tram Anh, an expert from the Ministry of Planning and Investment, said that the limitations in the development of IZs today are the lack of linkages between businesses in the zone; inefficient use of resources; unsecured energy and water; and their negative impacts on the natural environment and living environment of near-by residents.

She affirmed that the trend of shifting from traditional IZs to EIPs is inevitable.