72 enterprises from 4 Industrial Parks in the northern province of Ninh Binh, the Mekong Delta province of Can Tho and Da Nang City have reduced their investments in energy, water and materials; and contributed to protecting the local environment. Some of these enterprises started to develop their plan to implement industrial symbiosis solutions, a further step toward sustainable development.

Ministry of Planning and Investment in collaboration with UNIDO is planning to organize a closing event in Hanoi mid-June to highlight successful stories and significant impacts of the Project “Implementation of Eco – industrial park initiative for sustainable industrial zones in Vietnam”.

The Project “Implementation of Eco – industrial park initiative for sustainable industrial zones in Vietnam” has been implemented by the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) since October 2014 in the pilot industrial zones: Khanh Phu & Gian Khau (Ninh Binh), Hoa Khanh (Da Nang) and Tra Noc 1&2 (Can Tho).

Under the Project, the Vietnam Cleaner Production Centre Co. Ltd. provided resource efficient and cleaner production solutions to these enterprises to increase transfer, deployment and diffusion of clean and low-carbon technologies; to minimize Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, Persistant Organic Pollutants (POPs) releases and water pollutants as well as to improve water-efficiency and sound management of chemicals.

In addition, the Project also provided advices to strengthen legal regulations and policies on IZ planning and management as well as guidelines and instructions to facilitate the transformation of IZs into EIPs. One of the significant outcomes of the project is the issuance of Decree No.82/2018/ND-CP (“Decree 82”) of the Government of Vietnam dated 22 May 2018 to regulate the management of industrial zones (IZ) and economic zones (EZ) in Vietnam. The Decree took effect since July 2018.

The project also helped strengthen institutional capacities on eco-industrial park planning and management at different levels, ranging from the central government to the local authorities as well as the management authorities of these 5 pilot IZs.

Guidelines on how to access green financing, what to do to prevent, prepare and respond to environmental accidents were also developed and shared by the Project.

Thanks to the success of the Project, discussion on Phase 2 of the EIP Initiative is underway to extend the Project’s interventions to other existing IZs across Vietnam and ensure sustainable development.