The National Assembly has just passed a resolution on economic and social development in 2024 with the target GDP growth rate of 6.0-6.5%.

According to Dr. Bui Dang Dung, former Deputy Chairman of the Finance and Budget Committee of the National Assembly, to achieve growth goals, we must focus on investing in one of the spearheads of the economy, which is industrial parks.

If you want economic growth, you must synchronously develop all sectors and fields, including agriculture, industry, and services, but why do you only focus on industrial parks?

The country currently has 407 industrial parks, not to mention 44 economic zones attracting 21 thousand domestic and foreign investment projects with a total registered capital of 340 billion USD, contributing 11.7% to the state budget annually, solving 8.3% of the total workforce with 3.9 million direct workers, not including millions of indirect workers, do not focus on investing in industrial parks, so where should they invest?

According to data from the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the investment capital ratio/hectare of land in industrial parks tends to increase, currently reaching around 26 billion VND/ha. Job creation and labor productivity targets of projects in industrial parks are higher than projects located outside industrial parks.

According to tax industry data, among the 1,000 businesses that contribute the most to the state budget every year, businesses operating in industrial parks account for over 20%. The budgets of many localities are "strongholds" of industry such as Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Hai Phong, Dong Nai, Bac Ninh, Thai Nguyen... with a huge contribution from enterprises in industrial parks with a large proportion of contributions. Contributing over 60% of total local budget revenue.

Thus, there needs to be a priority and incentive mechanism for businesses in industrial zones. But sir, this seems to contradict the principle "all businesses and economic sectors must operate equally"?

The industrial and construction sector contributes 38.63% to GDP, of which the processing and manufacturing industry contributes the largest proportion. In the processing and manufacturing industry, the foreign direct investment sector is playing the leading role.

In recent years, the foreign investment sector has invested 35-40% of total capital in industrial parks, with the processing and manufacturing industry accounting for 70-80%. The investment capital made in the Industrial Park is about 1/3 of the total investment capital made in the whole society; The investment efficiency of capital/per hectare of land in the industrial park is also much higher than that of projects outside the industrial park.

The above data shows that industrial parks have increasingly played a special role in economic development. If you want high GDP growth, at 6.0%-6.5%, you must invest in developing industrial parks.

We used to attract foreign investment with abundant natural resources, low labor costs along with preferential land rental prices and attractive corporate income taxes... But these advantages are being lost. Gradually, because regional minimum wages increase each year, corporate income tax cannot be lower than the global minimum tax implemented from 2024 (minimum tax rate 15%); Land rental prices must gradually approach market prices in the spirit of the revised Land Law; Our natural resources are rich and diverse, but input materials for the processing and manufacturing industry still mainly have to be imported. The advantages have gradually dried up. If there are no other preferential mechanisms and policies, how can the industrial park be developed?

The problem is that all mechanisms must be equal...

The world's general trend is green, clean, and environmentally friendly production, with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to nearly zero.

At the COP26 Climate Summit taking place in Glasgow (Scotland), Vietnam and many countries around the world committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050. There is no need to implement incentives. By other mechanisms, only giving priorities and incentives to green, clean and environmentally friendly production enterprises, it is almost natural that enterprises in the industrial park will enjoy them. Because production facilities are concentrated in industrial parks and economic zones, environmental protection is strictly controlled, especially wastewater and solid waste treatment.

A report from the Ministry of Planning and Investment has shown that currently 91% of industrial parks have centralized wastewater treatment systems, meeting the needs and standards for discharge and treatment of hazardous solid waste. Thus, just by using environmental protection criteria to implement priorities and incentives, regardless of where the business operates, businesses in the industrial park have many advantages.

Of course, in addition to this incentive, businesses in the industrial park also need other incentives, but still ensure an equal business environment.

What do you mean to say that there needs to be mechanisms and preferential policies for industrial parks to build housing, schools, hospitals... for workers?

The legal framework regulating new industrial park activities stops at the decree level, while industrial park activities relate to many different fields such as planning, investment, businesses, land, construction, environment, and housing. , labor... Mechanisms and policies to encourage investment in building housing, sports and cultural facilities, and preschool education facilities to serve workers in industrial parks are not attractive enough, causing many difficulties. difficulties in policy implementation, especially developing new models.

Currently and in the future, the sustainable development of the Vietnamese economy cannot rely on the service sector, especially finance, banking, insurance, and high-quality services. The agricultural sector is only the foundation of the economy, so if it wants to develop, it must focus on industrial development, in which the processing and manufacturing industry is still the driving force and industrial parks are the driving force for industrial development. processing and manufacturing. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a separate law to regulate the operations of industrial parks, economic zones and industrial clusters.