HCMC eyes establishment of huge economic zone

The zone has been included in a draft project on the development of industrial parks and export processing zones for 2025 – 2030 with a vision to 2040. Accordingly, the zone will cover the entire District 7 and Nha Be district along with parts of Binh Chanh and Can Gio. Its core area will be the 300-ha Tan Thuan export processing zone and the 1,354ha Hiep Phuoc Port Urban Area.

Investors, when investing in economic zones, will be entitled to such incentives as tax exemption for four years and a 50% reduction of corporate income tax for the next nine years for income generated from their investment projects in line with regulations. For the southern metropolis, such zone with large-scale socio-economic development space and integrated production capacity plays an important role in transforming its underdeveloped coastal area into a driving force for economic development. It will also help speed up the process of restructuring the local economy towards industrialisation and modernisation, and forming a high-quality urban area.

As HCMC is promoting infrastructure construction in its southern part, there are good reasons for the establishment of an economic zone there.

Hua Quoc Hung, head of the HCMC Export Processing and Industrial Zones Authority (HEPZA) said there were investors wanting to rent several dozen hectares of land for factory building, but the city could not provide them.

Therefore, when there is a large enough economic zone with adequate infrastructure, the city will be able to attract large investors, thereby creating a breakthrough in economic development, he said.