Ho Chi Minh City's Eco-Industrial Park Strategy: Reconstructing Urban Competitiveness under Global Supply Chain Restructuring

At the intersection of globalization and the climate agenda, the structural reshaping of global supply chains is no longer a long-term forecast but a reality that companies, cities, and countries must immediately address. Ho Chi Minh City, as one of the most dynamic economic engines in Vietnam and even Southeast Asia, is attempting to answer a key question through the ecological transformation of its industrial parks: as traditional low-cost manufacturing advantages gradually fade, how can a city redefine its position in the global value network?

According to data from the Ho Chi Minh City Export Processing and Industrial Park Authority (HEPZA), the city has 67 parks, 58 of which are operational, with an average occupancy rate of about 80%. This vast existing base is both an opportunity and a burden—if not upgraded in time, it may become a castaway in the green wave of global supply chains. Therefore, Ho Chi Minh City has chosen the Eco-Industrial Park (EIP) model as a lever to promote industrial symbiosis and circular economy, reflecting not only environmental compliance but also a fundamental shift in the paradigm of urban competitiveness.

Since 2020, the Hiep Phuoc Industrial Park has participated in the Global Eco-Industrial Park Programme led by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and has identified over 100 industrial symbiosis opportunities—covering the sharing and exchange of materials, energy, water, waste, and by-products. This is not simply waste reuse, but a systemic reshaping of resource efficiency. In the Phu My 3 Specialized Industrial Park, Vietnam's first officially certified eco-industrial park is being built on nearly 1,000 hectares, with a commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. These cases show that the essence of eco-industrial parks is not to "green" traditional factories, but to embed environmental performance into the production function through spatial planning and industrial organization innovation.

It is noteworthy that Ho Chi Minh City is not undergoing this transformation alone. European countries such as Germany and Poland are deeply involved through technology transfer, management experience sharing, and investment cooperation. At the Germany-Vietnam Circular Economy Forum, German Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City Su Er clearly stated that Germany will support Vietnam's circular economy capacity building needed for its transition to a high-income country. Bosch Vietnam General Manager De Rong emphasized that data, artificial intelligence, and smart factory technologies are fundamentally changing manufacturing, and expressed willingness to help local enterprises deploy solutions through digital transformation assessments. Similarly, Poland's "GreenEvo" project brought 12 companies to showcase green technologies such as carbon reduction and waste recycling. The participation of these international partners shows that Ho Chi Minh City's eco-industrial park strategy has become a hub connecting global green technology supply with local demand.

This cooperation itself is a form of city diplomacy and governance innovation. Ho Chi Minh City is no longer just a passive recipient of global capital, but actively sets the agenda, brings in professional institutions, and creates an institutional environment through policy guidance (such as the carbon measurement and environmental compliance promoted by HEPZA). Cities are becoming the basic units of global climate governance and supply chain rule-making.However, the challenges remain severe. Eco-industrial parks require significant upfront investment, technological integration capabilities, and the willingness of small and medium enterprises to participate. The proposal by the Ho Chi Minh City Association for Support of Industries (HASI) to establish a Vietnam-Germany Technical Training Center, a standardization working group, and a technology risk guarantee fund highlights the importance of institutional support. Furthermore, how to prevent the ecological transition from devolving into "greenwashing" risks and how to ensure that SMEs receive fair benefits within the industrial symbiosis network will be key in the next phase.

From a broader strategic perspective, Ho Chi Minh City's practice offers a replicable path for other rapidly industrializing cities in the Global South: no longer fixated on low-cost expansion, but leapfrogging from "manufacturing bases" to "green smart nodes" through ecological transformation, digitalization, and international cooperation. As the global urban system undergoes accelerated restructuring, the anchor of urban competitiveness is shifting from factor costs to ecological governance capacity and supply chain resilience. Ho Chi Minh City's eco-industrial park strategy may well be the most vivid footnote to this transformation.