What is eco-industrial park? What are the criteria for identification of eco-industrial parks in Vietnam?

Regarding this issue, LawNet answers as follows:

1. What is eco-industrial park?

According to Clause 5, Article 2 of Decree 35/2022/ND-CP, eco-industrial park refers to an industrial park in which enterprises located inside its perimeter get involved in cleaner production, make effective use of natural resources and enter into production linkage and cooperation for industrial symbiosis; which meet the criteria stipulated in Decree 35/2022/ND-CP.

What is eco-industrial park? What are the criteria for identification of eco-industrial parks in Vietnam? (Internet image)

2. Criteria for identification of eco-industrial parks in Vietnam

Article 37 of Decree 35/2022/ND-CP, criteria for identification of eco-industrial parks as follows:

- An investor executing an investment project on construction and business of infrastructure facilities of an industrial park must satisfy the following criteria:

+ Comply with regulatory provisions of law on investment, law on enterprises, law on construction, law on land, law on environmental protection and law on labor within 03 years before the date of registration for certification of the eco-industrial park;

+ Provide all basic services needed to be in place at industrial parks under law, including essential basic amenities (e.g., electricity, water, information, fire prevention and control, wastewater treatment, others), relevant services and services intended to support enterprises inside industrial parks in carrying out the industrial symbiosis;

+ Formulate and carry out the mechanism for cooperation on input and output supervision related to use of ingredients, materials, water, energy, chemicals, waste and by-products at the industrial park; prepare the annual review report on results achieved during the process of efficient consumption of resources, cleaner production and supervision of emissions of the industrial park for submission to the industrial park and economic zone authority;

+ Every year, submit the report on conformance to regulations on environmental protection and social corporate responsibility to surrounding communities for submission to the industrial park and economic zone authority and publish it on websites of enterprises at the industrial park.

- Enterprises operating at an industrial park must meet the following criteria:

+ Comply with regulatory provisions of law on investment, law on enterprises, law on construction, law on land, law on environmental protection and law on labor within 03 years before the date of registration for certification of the eco-industrial park;

+ Perform at least one industrial symbiosis in which participating enterprises at the industrial park must apply production and environment management system according to corresponding ISO (International Organization for Standardization) standards;

+ At least 20% of enterprises at the industrial park that apply resource efficiency and cleaner production solutions show their achievements in the efficient use of ingredients, materials, water, energy, chemicals, waste or by-products and reduction of environmental emissions.

- The industrial park must meet the following criteria:

+ Total area of land intended for tree planting, traffic and development of public technical utilities and social infrastructure must account for at least 25% of that as expected according to the planning scheme for construction of industrial parks approved by the competent regulatory authority according to the national technical regulations for construction planning;

+ Solutions to providing dwellings, public services and utilities for employees working in the industrial parks must be available in use.

3. Incentives granted to eco-industrial parks and eco-businesses in Vietnam

Incentives granted to eco-industrial parks and eco-businesses are based on Article 39 of Decree 35/2022/ND-CP, specifically:

- Investment projects on construction and business of infrastructure facilities of industrial parks may be entitled to incentive policies specified in clause 1 of Article 32 of Decree 35/2022/ND-CP.

- Investors executing investment projects on construction and business of infrastructure facilities of eco-industrial parks and eco-businesses may be preferred to take out loans from Viet Nam Environment Protection Fund, Vietnam Development Bank, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Fund and other domestic and international funds and donators; to be granted green credit at credit institutions, foreign bank branches in Vietnam under law on environmental protection and other regulatory provisions of relevant legislation;

To receive permission to issue green bonds under law on issuance of bonds, law on environmental protection to serve the purpose of building technical infrastructure facilities of eco-industrial parks, implementing cleaner production approaches, effectively using resources and industrial symbiosis.

- Investors executing investment projects on construction and business of infrastructure facilities of eco-industrial parks and eco-businesses shall be given preference in participation in technical assistance and investment promotion programs hosted by state regulatory authorities.

- Enterprises operating at eco-industrial parks shall be given preference in providing information related to the technology market and possibility of cooperating in effecting industrial symbioses within their scope of business.

- Eco-industrial parks or eco-businesses shall be given incentives as provided in clause 1, 2, 3 and 4 of Article 39 of Decree 35/2022/ND-CP and other regulatory provisions of relevant law from the date on which they are certified by the competent state authorities as eco-industrial parks or eco-businesses.

Nguyen Nhu Mai

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