DONG NAI KEEPS UP WITH THE COUNTRY'S INNOVATION From the first industrial park to the country's industrial capital

Going from small to large, from few to many, from low to high, today Dong Nai has both expanded the number of industrial parks and selectively invested, aiming to develop industry in a modern, sustainable and environmentally friendly direction.

Key points for industrial park development in Vietnam

Bien Hoa Industrial Park (renamed Bien Hoa 1 Industrial Park after 1975) was established in 1963 and put into operation in 1964 (now in Tran Bien ward). This is the first industrial park in Vietnam as well as Dong Nai. This industrial park has fulfilled its historical role when Dong Nai decided to convert its function from industrial land to urban - commercial - service area and improve the environment. In the future, this will be the most prestigious political , administrative, urban, commercial - service center of Dong Nai, with a spreading impact throughout the region.

With experience from the initial industrial parks, after the Liberation of the South, the reunification of the country and especially since our country entered the renovation, Dong Nai has gradually established more and more industrial parks. At first, only state-owned enterprises (SOEs) invested, managed and operated industrial park infrastructure, but later some private economic sectors and investors from Thailand and Japan also participated. Typical state-owned industrial park infrastructure investors such as Sonadezi and Tin Nghia; then corporations from Thailand and Japan, and large private enterprises have been investing and developing new industrial parks.

A corner of Ho Nai Industrial Park. Photo: Vuong The

Dong Nai Industrial Park Development Corporation (Sonadezi) is a pioneering and leading state-owned enterprise in Dong Nai in terms of the number of industrial park infrastructure projects in the province as well as expanding to other provinces and cities. Starting with the pioneering role in developing industrial parks nationwide since 1990 and very early investing in and building a multi-value industrial ecosystem, Sonadezi is a brand that many domestic and international investors prioritize. Up to now, nearly 1,000 foreign direct investment (FDI) enterprises and domestic enterprises have chosen Sonadezi's industrial parks as strategic locations and key production. Sonadezi is developing and effectively operating an ecosystem of 12 industrial parks that have come into operation, providing more than 4,600 hectares of industrial land and a diverse ecosystem for investors to lease land, thereby bringing 12 billion USD and more than 30 trillion VND into the industrial parks invested by the unit.

Similarly, after the success of Amata Industrial Park (Long Binh ward), Amata Group (Thailand) continued to invest in Long Thanh High-Tech Industrial Park (Long Thanh commune) with an area of 410 hectares, total investment in technical infrastructure of more than 282 million USD.

General Director of Amata Long Thanh Urban Joint Stock Company Thai Hoang Nam shared: The company is actively negotiating with dozens of other potential investors and hopes to welcome many new projects in the future. Enterprises wishing to invest in Long Thanh High-Tech Industrial Park will be supported by Amata to quickly complete procedures to be granted investment certificates early.

The early formation of industrial parks and strong growth in quantity has made Dong Nai an attractive location for investment, especially from large corporations and FDI enterprises such as: Vedan (Taiwan, China), Cargill (USA); Tripod, Formosa (Taiwan); Nestlé (Switzerland); Hyosung, Changshin (Korea); Ajinomoto, Lixil (Japan); CP, Amata (Thailand)... Domestic enterprises have also invested heavily in Dong Nai. From the starting point in Dong Nai, these investors have opened more factories in many other provinces and cities across the country.

Currently, the total number of workers in industrial parks, economic zones, and high-tech zones of Dong Nai is more than 679,400 workers, of which those from other provinces account for 42%. Intermediate or higher skill level is 18%; trained workers are 67%. The leather and footwear industry accounts for the largest number of workers with 33.4%, followed by textiles and garments with 15.4%, electronics with 8.6%, wood with 6.8%...

As a major investor with high technology from Germany, Bosch Group has a factory producing continuously variable transmission (CVT) belts in automobiles in Long Thanh Industrial Park. The factory in Dong Nai has an area of over 16 hectares and is one of the FDI enterprises with high revenue and budget contribution in the province.

According to Mr. Brendan Sunderland, Vice President, Technical Director of Bosch Vietnam Plant, Bosch is committed to long-term high-tech investment in Vietnam. Bosch will continue to cooperate and contribute to the development of digitalization, sustainability and advanced manufacturing as well as continue to innovate and support the aspirations of the local community.

More new industrial parks

From July 2025, Dong Nai officially merged with Binh Phuoc to become the new Dong Nai province. After the merger, Dong Nai has great resources and advantages from the two old provinces, including industrial parks in the former Binh Phuoc region. That contributes to the cumulative number of 83 industrial parks, economic zones, and high-tech zones in Dong Nai, of which 59 industrial parks, economic zones, and high-tech zones have been established, 42 zones have been put into operation. In 2025 and early 2026, a number of new industrial parks in the province will be built such as: Phuoc An, Bau Can - Tan Hiep, Xuan Que, Song Nhan...

The group of industrial parks adjacent to Long Thanh International Airport includes: Long Duc 3 Industrial Park, Bau Can - Tan Hiep, Xuan Que - Song Nhan or Phuoc An. Bau Can - Tan Hiep Industrial Park has the investor Tan Hiep Industrial Park Joint Stock Company. This industrial park is oriented to develop in a concentrated manner with an industry cluster model to develop supporting industries; logistics; chemicals; pharmaceuticals; metallurgy and machine manufacturing; data centers (IDC); electricity, electronics; plastic and rubber packaging; wood products, paper, furniture; construction materials; automobiles, aviation...

According to Ms. Le Nu Thuy Duong, General Director of Tan Hiep Le Nu Thuy Duong Industrial Park Joint Stock Company, immediately after the investment policy was approved, the enterprise actively coordinated with the province's functional agencies to carry out related procedures to speed up progress and soon form a new generation, modern, regional-scale industrial park.

Not only in the old Dong Nai area but also in the old Binh Phuoc area, new industrial parks were established. For example, the Dong Nam Dong Phu Industrial Park Project is a project that Techtra Infrastructure Investment and Development Joint Stock Company (Binh Phuoc Ward) has researched and invested in on an area of about 2 thousand hectares.

In recent years, thanks to the attraction of large projects such as Long Thanh International Airport, Phuoc An Seaport; highway, railway and road systems, many investors have come to Dong Nai but the land fund in the industrial parks cannot meet the demand. Therefore, the province is speeding up procedures to develop new industrial parks to meet the needs of investors.

According to Mr. Tran Quoc Nguyen, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Techtra Infrastructure Investment and Development Joint Stock Company, the company has arranged financial resources to be ready to implement the project. The company hopes that the province will create conditions for the registration and approval of investors as soon as the master plan is approved.

According to Pham Viet Phuong, Deputy Head of the Management Board of Industrial Parks and Economic Zones of Dong Nai Province, the Board has established 1/2,000 zoning plans for new industrial park projects: Long Duc 3 Industrial Park, Bau Can - Tan Hiep, Xuan Que - Song Nhan, Phuoc An. For industrial parks that have not been established but are included in the plan, the unit will continue the process of establishing zoning plans to submit to the province to select the next investor.

Towards ecological and modern industrial zones

In the coming time, to develop sustainably, worthy of its position, Dong Nai needs to have a transformation in line with the trend. Giving comments on the Draft Political Report to the 1st Provincial Party Congress, term 2025-2030, Dr. Tran Du Lich, former Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Institute of Economics, member of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Group, commented: The province's processing and manufacturing industry develops based on the advantages of about 20,000 hectares of land planned for industrial development and the industrial - service - urban corridor of the Southeast region; creating a breakthrough in the development of renewable energy and green industry; supporting green transformation and digital transformation. Dong Nai needs to exploit the advantages of the free trade zone associated with Long Thanh International Airport and Phuoc An Seaport to promote the process of participating in the global supply chain.

Enterprises invest in modern equipment and machinery to operate effectively and develop sustainably at Minh Hung III Industrial Park. Photo: Trung Quang

Dong Nai has a large area of industrial land and many manufacturing industries, but the value of goods produced per area of land is not high, and there are few FDI enterprises producing high-tech goods. Therefore, Dong Nai needs to focus on attracting FDI enterprises to produce high-value goods to improve the efficiency of industrial land use.

From that reality, Dong Nai has been selective in attracting investment for investment projects in the province. This is to minimize negative impacts on the environment, because compared to many other localities, Dong Nai developed industrial parks and attracted investment very early. Along with the development of the economy, environmental problems have arisen, therefore, the province has decided to selectively attract investment, prioritizing high-tech industries, less land-intensive, and at the same time creating high added value for products.

Dong Nai develops industrial parks and attracts investment with the goal of balancing economic growth and environmental sustainability; prioritizing high-tech projects, limiting the attraction of projects that generate a lot of waste.

In parallel with selectively attracting investment for each individual project, Dong Nai is promoting the development of industrial parks following the ecological model. Amata Industrial Park is the first model in Dong Nai following this direction.

Mr. Pham Anh Tuan, Senior Director of Water and Environment Management of Amata Bien Hoa Urban Joint Stock Company, the project investor, commented: Sustainable development and circular economy bring many economic and environmental benefits. Amata Industrial Park is building industrial symbiosis, bringing clear economic and environmental benefits, meeting export conditions. The future industrial parks of Amata Group are oriented towards ecological development such as in Quang Ninh or Long Thanh High-Tech Industrial Park.

From Amata, Dong Nai will continue to develop other industrial parks in an ecological direction such as: Long Duc, Phuoc An, Bau Can - Tan Hiep... Accordingly, developing industrial parks according to a green and closed model, attracting investment projects in a specialized direction to create a production chain and implement industrial symbiosis.

According to Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Vo Tan Duc, Dong Nai has set a roadmap for net zero by 2050 and industry is one of the seven priority areas the province focuses on. In addition to solutions for greening old industrial parks and factories, selectively attracting new investment, requiring a roadmap and implementing emission reduction, the province is interested in forming green and ecological industrial parks that meet net zero standards. The province recommends that industrial park infrastructure investors and enterprises in the area promote green transition in the industrial sector, linking economic growth with environmental protection.

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/huong-toi-dai-hoi-xiv-cua-dang/202509/dong-nai-chung-nhip-doi-moi-cung-dat-nuoc-tu-khu-cong-nghiep-dau-tien-den-thu-phu-cong-nghiep-cua-ca-nuoc-ec9018c/