Hoa Lac High-tech Park (HHTP)’s management board has sent a report to the Ministry of Planning and Investment requesting nearly VND8.3 trillion (US$364 million) for land clearance and infrastructure construction.

According to approved plans, total investment capital from the State budget for land clearance and infrastructure construction of the park is VND15.6 trillion, of which some VND5.94 trillion is for residential settlement and the rest is for infrastructure construction.

However, by the end of 2016, only VND7.33 trillion was disbursed for land clearance and VND3.03 trillion for residential settlement.

Of the remaining VND8.3 trillion needed, VND4.138 trillion is expected to come from foreign loans.

According to a report of the park’s management board, by March this year, HHTP had 79 investment projects being implemented with total investment capital of some VND61.34 trillion on an area of 347.5ha. The total import-export turnover of the park in 2016 reached more than $2.4 billion with exports accounting for nearly $1.3 billion.

HHTP is located in the two districts of Thach That and Quoc Oai in suburban Ha Noi, spanning a total area of 1,586ha. It is set to become a city of science, attracting investors in the field of R&D, training and incubating, and manufacturing high-tech products in the fields of biotechnology, ICT, new materials and automation. To create an attractive environment in the complex, modern infrastructure is being built with capital from the State budget and ODA provided by the Japanese government.

The biggest difficulty and also the longest standing problem for the park is that 243ha of land has not been released for construction over the last 15 years, causing a lot of problems during infrastructure development and attracting investment.

On a working visit to the park in March this year, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc urged Ha Noi’s authorities to complete land clearance for the park’s development within 2017, noting that the park is not merely a technological area but also a miniature model for Viet Nam’s economy in the future.

The park’s management board said after the PM’s direction, it worked with the Ha Noi People’s Committee on the issue, asking the committee for providing the capital in advance, however, the committee responded that it had no capital to meet the proposal.

The park, therefore, had to ask the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Planning and Investment to consider and disburse the capital for the park as planned. – VNS