SHTP in recent years could attract $500 million worth of investments annually, including ones capitalized at billions of dollars.

SHTP so far this year has received 14 investors, including five foreign ones which came to seek information and investment opportunities. However, licenses still cannot be granted because agencies have not approved the new land rental framework.

The Land Law stipulates that land rental must be stable for five years. The land rental framework applied for HCMC, including the rental of the land in SHTP, expired in April 2018. No new framework has been released since then.

The tardiness by agencies has affected the operation of the investors who have received investment registration certificates since 2017. Investors cannot implement registered projects, failing to fulfill the commitments they made in the certificates, because SHTP has halted procedures to lease land and hand over land.

In early May, SHTP asked the HCMC People’s Committee to temporarily apply land rental and calculate the rates for compensation for site clearance. Investors will be required to pay additional land rent later if there is a difference in the amounts of money they paid or have to pay, once the official land rental frame is released.

Meanwhile, a series of IZs in Dong Nai province complained they are facing difficulties in compensation, site clearance and building houses for workers.

Some infrastructure development companies in Dong Nai have received approval for their projects on expanding IZs. However, they still cannot implement the projects because of delays in site clearance.

The investors complained that opportunities have been missed, while provincial authorities say that they have lost big money from tax collection because of the delays.

According to Surakij Kiatthanakorn, CEO of Amata Bien Hoa, which is developing Amata IZ in Bien Hoa City, the IZ has a total area of 513 hectares, but 26 hectares have not been cleared. Since there has been no ‘clean land’, the company cannot build roads.

Meanwhile, Thai Minh Quang, CEO of Ho Nai IZ in Trang Bom district, also said since the site clearance has not been completed, the IZ developer cannot fulfill the construction of the infrastructure items for the first and second phases. Many enterprises, which intended to lease land in Ho Nai, have decided to leave because they cannot wait any longer.

Thanh Mai

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