Southeast Asia Information Port (www.dnyxxg.com) reports that approximately 80% of foreign direct investment (FDI) companies currently prioritize industrial parks with green energy infrastructure. This data clearly demonstrates that green infrastructure has become a core new competitive advantage for Vietnamese industrial parks in attracting foreign investment, and is also forcing traditional industrial parks in Vietnam to accelerate their green transformation.
According to the Vietnam Energy Association (VEA), since 2025, the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) has fully covered the four major industries of steel, aluminum, cement, and electricity. Vietnamese companies exporting these products must submit proof of greenhouse gas emission intensity per unit of product. At the same time, the RE100 commitment (a global corporate initiative to use 100% renewable energy) implemented by multinational corporations such as Samsung, Apple, and Intel continues to put environmental pressure on the industrial park supply chain, further strengthening FDI companies' preference for green parks.
The VEA predicts that by 2030, the demand for renewable energy electricity in industrial parks may account for 25%-30% of the total industrial load. It is noteworthy that enterprises' demand for green energy is not limited to clean electricity itself; they also require Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs) for sustainable development reporting and emissions accounting. This places higher demands on the green infrastructure of industrial parks.
Nguyen Duc Hien, Deputy Director of the Central Policy and Strategy Department, stated that industrial parks are a major destination for foreign investment in Vietnam. According to statistics from the Foreign Investment Agency of the Ministry of Finance, by the end of 2025, Vietnam had more than 500 industrial parks, with a total planned area of 145,000 hectares and an average occupancy rate exceeding 75%. As a core vehicle for attracting domestic and foreign investment, industrial parks contribute 35%-40% of Vietnam's newly registered FDI. In the processing and manufacturing sector, industrial parks attract 70%-80% of the total registered capital in this sector, demonstrating their crucial role.
Industry insiders generally believe that the development of industrial parks has entered a new stage of "ecological competition." Truong Khac Nguyen Minh, Deputy General Manager of Prodezi Joint Stock Company in Long An (an investor in the Prodezi Industrial Park), pointed out that new-generation free trade agreements, the EU's CBAM mechanism, and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) standards are placing increasingly clear demands on greenhouse gas emission transparency, emission reduction and energy conservation, raw material and supply chain traceability, renewable energy application, and circular and energy-saving production infrastructure. "The value of an industrial park lies not in the area of land it leases, but in building an ecosystem that helps investors achieve sustainable development," he emphasized.
Bai Ngoc Tung, Manager of ACUD Construction Technology Joint Stock Company in Vietnam and Deputy Director of the AIST Institute of Construction Science and Technology, stated that Vietnam is entering a new stage where economic development is deeply intertwined with environmental and social responsibility. Politburo Resolution 50-NQ/TW has clearly defined the direction, promoting the transformation of foreign investment cooperation from "simple attraction" to "high-quality cooperation." Against this backdrop, Vietnam's traditional industrial park model faces unprecedented challenges.
Bai Ngoc Tung further analyzed that the investment standards of leading multinational corporations worldwide have changed. In addition to financial benefits, they also need to cope with ESG commitment pressures from shareholders and consumers, placing clear demands on renewable energy supply at production sites, circular standard waste treatment systems, and transparent governance. Meanwhile, green trade barriers erected by Vietnam's major export markets, such as the EU and the US, including carbon border adjustment mechanisms and anti-deforestation regulations, are also testing the green standards of industrial parks. Without accelerating green transformation, goods produced in these parks will lose international competitiveness and may even be excluded from the global supply chain.
"Neighboring countries like Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia are vigorously promoting preferential policies for smart green industrial parks to compete for FDI funds in sectors such as semiconductors, electric vehicles, and new energy," Bai Ngoc Tung emphasized. For Vietnam, transitioning to an eco-industrial park model is no longer an option, but an inevitable trend and an urgent requirement for the country to achieve sustainable development. (End)
