Hanoi (VNA) – Industrial land in Vietnamhas continued expanding since the beginning of this year, despite uncertaintyover the future of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) after the withdrawal ofUS support for the deal.

According to property service firm Cushman &Wakefield Vietnam, more than 4,700 hectares of industrial land has been developedsince the beginning of 2017, up by 7 percent over the same period last year.

Alex Crane, director of the property servicefirm, was quoted by Dau Tu (Investment) newspaper as saying that Vietnamremained an attractive destination for investment. “With or without TPP, theindustrial property segment will still be on an uptrend,” he said.

Crane cited statistics, noting that Vietnamattracted record foreign direct investment (FDI), at 7.7 billion USD in thefirst quarter of this year, nearly 85 percent of which was poured intoproduction.

Coupled with a significant number of new firmsand improved business confidence, this would have a positive impact on theindustrial land market, he said.

He noted that Vietnam had four other free tradeagreements (FTAs) under negotiation, which are expected to boost the investmentflow into Vietnam, and the industrial property segment would certainly seebenefits resulting from this.

However, administrative reforms must be hastenedin order to facilitate investment, together with improving the infrastructuresystem for industrial zones.

According to Nguyen Thanh Ha, chairman of SbLaw,developers should build industrial zones with proper infrastructure systems andlease them at reasonable prices, while the Government should pay attention todeveloping the parts-supplying industry and improving transport connectivity.

As of the end of 2016, there were 324 industrialzones throughout the country with total land area of 91,800 hectares, as wellas 16 economic zones and two high-tech zones. - VNA