State-owned Viglacera Corporation on February 8 broke ground on a 250ha industrial park and a 2,000-unit housing project for factory workers and experts in the northern province of Bac Ninh.

The event marked a step forward for Viet Nam’s largest construction materials producer.

To be operational in the second quarter of this year, Thuan Thanh Industrial Park I has a total investment of nearly VND3 trillion (over US$132 million). Located near National Roads 17 and 38 and Ring Road 4, it is easy for the park to reach all the international airports in the region – Noi Bai in Ha Noi, Cat Bi in Hai Phong port city and Van Don in Quang Ninh Province – as well as major sea ports of Dinh Vu (Hai Phong) and Cai Lan (Quang Ninh).

It aims to become a multi-functional industrial park which can attract projects in supporting industries, electronics, information technology, household appliances, machinery, and environmentally-friendly ones.

The affordable housing project will offer accommodation for around 10,000 factory workers and experts from Yen Phong Industrial Park in Bac Ninh. Each apartment unit will have one to three bedrooms and cost just about VND8.5 million per sq.m. The project also includes a medical centre, a cultural house, a kindergarten, an outdoor sporting venue, and a supermarket.

Speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony, Minister of Construction Nguyen Thanh Nghi highly spoke of the two projects, saying the Party and Government have exerted considerable efforts in developing social housing projects, particularly those for industrial park workers.

By the end of 2021, Viet Nam has completed 266 social housing projects in urban areas, including 121 affordable housing projects for factory workers, offering around 54,000 apartment units, he said, adding a total of 278 others are underway, 100 of which are for workers, providing some 134,000 units.

The minister expressed his hope that authorities of Bac Ninh, Viglacera and other developers will pay more attention to developing affordable apartments for workers. He pledged that his ministry will help the firms resolve challenges when constructing these projects. — VNS