Investing 9
January 3-9, 2022 l www.vir.com.vn
Viet Long
boosts ties
with partners
By Thu Le
A
major investment promo-
tion conference featuring
the presence of more than
200 Japanese investors
took place in the northeastern prov-
ince of Quang Ninh in late Decem-
ber, with Viet Long Investment and
Construction JSC being one of the
businesses to have laid initial step-
ping stones for deeper cooperation
with Japanese partners.
Chodai Co., Ltd. from Takahashi
city in Japan proposed in August
to invest in a treatment system for
medical and domestic waste into
energy in a joint venture with Viet
Long, which is based in Halong city.
Quang Ninh People’s Committee
had greenlit the cooperation in 2017
to build a modern medical waste
treatment facility namely Khe Giang
Waste Treatment Plant.
Before teaming up with Viet
Long, Chodai formed a venture with
MAEDA Group – one of the 10 larg-
est economic groups in Japan – to
Eco-park’s effective approach to sustainable growth
By Son Dung
An eco-industrial park developer
in Haiphong city and Quang Ninh
province is offering clean energy
for production and industrial sym-
biosis on top of a strategic loca-
tion and state-of-the-art facilities,
showcasing that economic growth
can be sparked while reducing
environmental impact.
DEEP C is a cluster of industrial
zones (IZs) developed and operat-
ed by Infra Asia Investment Hong
Kong, majorly owned by Belgian
company Ackermans & van Haar-
en in Haiphong and Quang Ninh in
northern Vietnam.
Once known as a tradition-
al industrial zone, DEEP C is now
shifting to building eco-industrial
parks with a green vision focusing on
renewable energy, waste reduction,
and industrial symbiosis practices.
“We are working towards the
goal of supplying more than 50
per cent of total power consump-
tion from renewable energy by the
end of the decade,” said Bruno Jas-
paert, general director of DEEP C
Industrial Zones.
A 2.3MW wind turbine was
installed in DEEP C Haiphong
II Industrial Zone in November,
known as the only wind energy
project in the northern Vietnam
today. With a height of 100m and a
invest in the waste-to-power indus-
try in different countries worldwide.
“With a lasting partnership with
Viet Long JSC, we continue to place
trust into projects on medical and
domestic waste treatment,” said Tet-
suo Matsui, director of Chodai.
Le Quang Thang, chairman at
Viet Long, said that during 2016-
2020, Quang Ninh had closed 11
landfills following regulations, pos-
ing an imminent lack of waste treat-
ment solutions.
To support Quang Ninh in solv-
ing this problem, from mid-2021,
Viet Long invested in building two
more incinerators with a burning
capacity of 250 tonnes per unit at the
Khe Giang facility. Together with
the five existing incinerators with a
combined capacity of 200 tonnes per
day, the total waste burning volume
would now reach 700 tonnes a day.
Treating domestic waste with an
incinerator at the Khe Giang facility
was assessed by Quang Ninh Depart-
ment of Natural Resources and Envi-
ronment to meet the requirements,
blade length of 12m, the wind tur-
bine can generate an annual output
of 3,101MWh.
The wind project is estab-
lished on the back of the partner-
ship between DEEP C and Unison,
whereby DEEP C aims to supply
its IZs with clean energy. Unison
focuses on developing wind tur-
bine technology optimised for low
wind speed areas of under 6.5m
per second in Southeast Asia.
Along with the wind energy
project, two rooftop solar plants
with a total peak capacity of
4.1MWp are under operation. One
plant is installed on the rooftop
owned by a tenant, representing a
The contract was signed in front of leaders of the two localities and relevant departments and agencies
helping to reduce waste discharge
into the environment.
“Our success in domestic waste
treatment is instrumental in Quang
Ninh province’s decision to expand
Khe Giang plant into a general
waste treatment complex featuring
advanced technologies,” said Thang.
“Besides cooperation with Chodai,
Viet Long is seeking other partners
for deployment of advanced inte-
grated waste treatment technologies
at the complex.”
Before rising to become Quang
Ninh’s leading enterprise in waste
treatment, Viet Long has been
known as a major producer of safe
vegetables in the province.
Since 2012, Viet Long has
embarked on planting safe vegeta-
bles in Quang Yen town, with invest-
symbiotic activity for environmen-
tal benefits. All power generated
from the wind turbine and solar
plants is injected into DEEP C’s
grid to be shared among businesses
within the zones.
This sharing of energy and
rooftop space and other common
facilities such as liquids jetties was
initially devised a long time ago
and has gained momentum over
the last few years.
Under the cooperation with the
Vietnam Cleaner Production Cen-
tre and the United Nations Indus-
trial Development Organization,
DEEP C is conducting a survey to
identify the symbiosis opportuni-
ment value reaching $1.73 million.
Viet Long also piloted growing
organic vegetables in a natural envi-
ronment in the province.
To build up Viet Long’s safe
vegetable brand, the company has
been cooperating with the Field
Crops Research Institute under the
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development for transfer of plant-
ing techniques, fertilisers, and plant
protection substances, deploying
production in accordance with Viet-
GAP standards as well as providing
technical guidance to farmers at the
project site.
Since 2018, Viet Long has joined
efforts with various Japanese part-
ners to produce biological crop pro-
tection products. Along with this, the
company has signed contracts with
ties among the tenants and between
the zones and tenants.
“The operating model of DEEP
C features various manufacturing
and service companies in different
industries. This diversity gives our
zones the advantage of evolving
into a cluster of companies relying
on each other to bring high eco-
nomic, social, and environmental
performances,” Jaspaert said.
To further step-up its sustain-
ability efforts, the company started
an organic farm with a non-chem-
ical farming model which can eas-
ily be multiplied, ensuring resil-
ience and sustainable livelihoods
for local farmers.
DEEP C Haiphong I Industrial Zone
Greentex and Chodai on research,
transfer, and also application of
G-Tex bio products in agricultural
crop protection.
Viet Long’s safe vegetables have
made it onto the list of Quang Ninh’s
One Commune, One Product prod-
ucts, and the company’s safe food
supply chain has been scaled up to
cover 39 hectares.
In addition to the project in
Quang Yen, Viet Long has deployed
three more projects in agriculture.
The company has also launched a
centre for presentation and distri-
bution of Quang Ninh’s agricultural
products in Halong. For his com-
pany’s outstanding achievements
in agriculture, chairman Thang was
honoured as one of 63 Outstanding
Vietnamese Farmers in 2021.n
For charity and welfare purpos-
es, it provides free organic food
baskets to low-income employees
in DEEP C Industrial Zones every
two weeks. Other employees are
entitled to receive food baskets at
the cost price.
“We want DEEP C Industrial
Zones to become a magnet for busi-
nesses that care about social and
environmental values. By becom-
ing one through the development
of eco-industrial parks, there is a
real chance to boost investment
from like-minded businesses into
the area,” said Koen Soenens, gen-
eral sales and marketing director of
DEEP C Industrial Zones.n