Developers of infrastructure for industrial parks (IP) and export processing zones (EPZ) in HCMC are piloting schemes to construct multi-storey workshop buildings for small and medium manufacturers, according to The Saigon Times Daily.

Tran Viet Ha, head of the investment department at the HCMC Export Processing Zone and Industrial Park Authority (Hepza), said construction of the multi-storey workshop facilities will help enterprises, especially those in supporting industries, have small space for production.

In the initial stage, the multi-storey workshop buildings will be up and running at the Dong Nam and Hiep Phuoc IPs and the Linh Trung and Tan Thuan EPZs.

These structures will have three to eight stories and total floor space of 10,000-40,000 square meters each.

The multi-storey workshop model is popular in the Republic of Korea, Japan and Taiwan (China) but new in Vietnam. This model will be deployed in the city to make full use of limited land for production activity at IPs and EPZs.

Multi-storey workshop buildings are appropriate for producers of items which are not heavy and particularly makers of hi-tech and supporting industry products, Ha was quoted by the newspaper as saying, adding that tenants should have efficient waste and emission treatment solutions, though.

Ha said the city will continue encouraging enterprises to invest in ready-to-use workshops for such tenants and this model has helped the city attract investors, especially foreign-invested enterprises in the past year.

In 2014, 19 foreign-invested firms were licensed to lease production workshops at the Cat Lai and Tan Thuan IPs, which are near the centre of the city, seaports and roads including Nguyen Van Linh and the 20km-long section of HCM City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway.

Last year, the IPs and EPZs in the city attracted investment pledges of over 752 million USD, 36.8 percent higher than targeted and up 23.52 percent against the previous year. Of which, foreign investments accounted for 347.5 million USD, a slight decline of 4.39 percent over 2013, but domestic investments grew 64.8 percent to 405 million USD.

The target for IPs and EPZs this year is 700 million USD probably due to global economic uncertainties.-VNA