Confectionary is produced at the Universal Robina Corporation in Binh Duong Province. The southern province is stepping up efforts to draw US$1 billion in foreign direct investment to build modern industrial parks next year. — VNA/VNS Photo Quach Lam

BINH DUONG (Biz Hub)— The southern province of Binh Duong is stepping up efforts to draw US$1 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) for building well-equipped industrial parks next year.

To this end, the province will continue to ramp up the infrastructure in industrial zones (IZs) while choosing projects that are well suited to the locality's development orientation, particularly for energy-efficiency projects.

At the same time, it will zone off some 300ha in Bau Bang industrial park for industry projects. All possible measures will be adopted to draw investors once the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal is signed.

Among the 28 planned IZs in Binh Duong, 26 of them cover an area of over 9,000ha, and eight industrial clusters of 600ha have already had their infrastructure facilities built, including waste-water treatment systems.

The rate of occupancy in industrial parks and clusters hit an average of 65 per cent and 41 per cent respectively. Ten of them obtained a rate of 95-100 per cent, such as VSIP 1, VSIP 2, My Phuoc, Song Than, Binh Duong, Viet Huong, and Dong An.

This year, the IZs poured an additional VND388 billion (US$18.4 million) into technical infrastructure, put 86.4ha of land up for lease, and generated jobs for 12,700 workers.

In 2013, Binh Duong attracted $1.3 billion in FDI, including $818 million for 125 new projects and an additional $501 million for 124 existing projects. It has so far attracted over 2,200 projects, valued at more than $18.7 billion. — VNS