The Viet Nam-Korea Incubator Park (VKIP) will officially come into operation in June next year, local authorities have announced.

The project has completed 32 per cent of construction. From now to the end of the first quarter of next year, the South Korean partner will train Vietnamese staff. It will also establish a board of management composed of six Koreans and six Vietnamese.

The VKIP Development Centre will oversee management and operations and the purchase of modern and environmentally-friendly equipment.

The VKIP's goal is to build three industrial clusters for rice, seafood and agricultural machinery in order to enhance the price competitiveness of Mekong Delta's rice in international markets, Kim Hee Sup, managing director of VKIP project, said at a meeting held yesterday with local authorities about the project's progress.

The project also aims to attract more investment into international-standard rice processing; expand seafood exports; and use modern technology to produce animal feed.

At the same time, the VKIP project will help the agricultural engineering industry manufacture "made-in-Viet Nam" machinery with a 95 per cent localisation rate over the next 10 years, and will support the development of enterprises that manufacture agricultural machinery.

The project will provide high-tech equipment to process rice, with the aim of increasing quality that meets international standards. Such equipment will help to expand high-quality rice cultivation as well as reduce production costs.

The project will urge the entire Mekong Delta to feed high-value shrimp and fish to export.

The quality of water resources and environmentally friendly food will also be examined.

According to the Can Tho province's Industry and Trade Department, the VKIP has a total investment of US$21 million, of which the South Korean government has donated US$17.7 million. The Vietnamese government's counterpart fund is $3.4 million.

The South Korean partner is responsible for building all working infrastructure, including a four-storey building and three pilot production workshops covering an area of 13,000 square metres in Tra Noc 2 Industrial Park, as well as purchase of equipment for the incubator and training of the project's staff.

Vietnamese authorities have provided all needed legal and administrative procedures and human resources in order for the South Korean side to conduct training.

VNS/VNN