Abstract
Industrial parks have been promoted as cornerstone strategies for economic development in countries around the world, including Viet Nam. The transformation of conventional industrial zones (IZs) into eco-industrial parks (EIPs) presents an effective opportunity to attain inclusive and sustainable industrial development, as well as increasing the economic competitiveness and resilience of industrial parks. This paper presents and discusses the interventions, key results, and lessons learned from the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and UNIDO’s work on EIPs in Viet Nam as part of the Project “Implementation of eco-industrial park initiative for sustainable industrial zones in Viet Nam”. The Project was undertaken with the objective of developing policies and guidelines to facilitate the transformation of industrial zones into eco-industrial parks and implementing EIP principles in five existing industrial zones in the provinces of Da Nang (Hoa Khanh IZ), Can Tho (Tra Noc 1 and 2 IZs), and Ninh Binh (Khanh Phu IZ and Gian Khau IZ), which serve as pilots to support replication and upscaling across Viet Nam. The application of the Project’s policy, company, and park-level interventions demonstrated their value in contributing to the development and implementation of EIP practices in the country. Rather than stand-alone solutions, multi-disciplinary EIP concepts are most effective if applied as part of an integrated top-down approach (policy support as entry point for interventions) combined with a bottom-up approach (industrial park as entry point). The issuance of Decree 82/2018/ND-CP on the management of industrial parks and economic zones is a new policy outlining the requirements and process for transforming industrial zones into EIPs. The Decree is thereby an important driver for EIP development. Legal challenges with regards to EIPs still exist, including the lack of available and reliable data and the need for detailed standards and guidelines on reusing by-products, wastes, and wastewater. The final adoption of minimum EIP requirements in Viet Nam for social, economic, and environmental aspects is a key issue for scaling up implementation. The work undertaken as part of the Project will continue through the Global EIP Programme, in which Viet Nam is one of the participating countries.
Highlights
The eco-industrial parks (EIPs) concept and approach have evolved over time to address interrelated aspects, including, for example: resource efficient and cleaner production (RECP); industrial symbiosis; climate change; pollution; social standards; shared infrastructure; improved spatial zoning; and management
Park management assists EIPs and their tenant companies to take advantage of opportunities associated with RECP, industrial symbiosis, integration with local community and natural environment, spatial planning/zoning, and park level infrastructure and utility services
This paper presents and discusses the interventions and key results from Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and UNIDO’s work, as the specialized UN agency dealing with sustainable industrial development, on EIPs in Viet Nam as part of the Project “Implementation of eco-industrial park initiative for sustainable industrial zones in Viet Nam”
Summary
The EIP concept and approach have evolved over time to address interrelated aspects, including, for example: resource efficient and cleaner production (RECP); industrial symbiosis; climate change; pollution; social standards; shared infrastructure; improved spatial zoning; and management. All definitions refer to a number of companies located in a defined area and all definitions share many similarities, opportunities, and challenges in the path to sustainable industrial development. Having a formalized and well-functioning zone/park management structure is a key requisite for any EIP [6,10,11]. Park management assists EIPs and their tenant companies to take advantage of opportunities associated with RECP, industrial symbiosis, integration with local community and natural environment, spatial planning/zoning, and park level infrastructure and utility services. The focus of this paper is on existing industrial parks, the EIP concept is relevant to retrofit and optimize existing industrial parks (brownfields) as well as to guide the sustainable planning and development of new industrial parks (greenfields) [11,12,13]
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