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HANOI: Visiting Singapore Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong on Tuesday officiated at the groundbreaking ceremony of the third Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park.
The park, located in Bac Ninh, is the first such project in Vietnam's north and is unlike its predecessors.
Mr Goh said it is not only a Singapore-style industrial park but also a township that caters to Vietnam's growing needs for affordable quality housing and improved urban infrastructure.
He said he is confident the industrial park will make a significant contribution to Vietnam's urbanisation and growth.
The Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park is a key symbol of bilateral co-operation and it was first mooted in 1995 by Mr Goh and his then-Vietnamese counterpart.
Hence it is significant for Mr Goh to be at the groundbreaking of the first such park in the northern part of Vietnam.
Low Sin Leng, co-chairman of the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park & Township Joint Stock Company, said: "Your Excellency's presence here today is our good luck charm to kick off another successful VSIP project, a premium 700-hectare industrial township that integrates commercial and residential facilities with industrial park development."
The project will have commercial and residential facilities, and that's a first for SembCorp Parks, which is leading a Singapore consortium to develop the park with Vietnam's state-owned Becamex Corporation.
Through the Joint Stock Company, SembCorp Parks holds a 40.31% share in the project.
Witnessing the changes in Vietnam, Mr Goh said Singapore has gone through a similar phase of rapid industrialisation and economic growth.
Mr Goh said: "Where Vietnam finds our development experiences useful, we are happy to share them so that Vietnam does not have to reinvent the wheel. Building industrial and business parks in Vietnam is one such example."
The park at Bac Ninh will cost about US$100 million.
Already, 15 companies are pumping in US$300 million to set up operations there.
One of them is Fujikin, a Japanese maker of gas valves.
Fujikin's adviser, Katsumi Kurita, said: "Our activities are worldwide, so we prefer such an internationalised industrial park."
That will certainly be the case, as more foreign investors will want a slice of the fastest-growing economy in ASEAN.
Mr Goh also had lunch with senior representatives of the UNDP, IMF and World Bank in Vietnam.
They exchanged views on developments in Vietnam, its future development and challenges. - CNA/ir
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