Ready-made workshops favored in southern IZs Industrial zone (IZ) developers are now offering ready-made workshops and infrastructure items to attract more investors.   Yasuhiko, general director of Jyohoku Spring, recalling the time when the company built its first factory in Vietnam 10 years ago, said it was difficult and time consuming to find a suitable place for the factory. The general director is now looking for another place for a second factory in Vietnam. But he has many offers for him to choose. There are ready-made workshops which allow him to start the organization immediately. Analysts noted that one of the reasons behind the low occupancy rate in many IZs is the low readiness of the infrastructure system. IZ developers only build infrastructure items after investors register to lease land. As such, investors will have to wait for a long time to be able to start their production. Meanwhile, in most cases, investors do not want to wait. A report released by the Ministry of Planning and Investment recently showed that 14 IZs are in danger of being taken back by the state, or would have to shrink because of the low occupancy rate or because investors are incapable of developing projects. Therefore, many IZ developers have changed their business strategies, offering ready-made workshops to attract more investors. They tend to shift from leasing industrial land for long term to leasing ready-made workshops designed on businesses’ requirements. Analysts believe that ready-made workshops have been the market segment in the last two years with the most potential. Some developers even provide associated services, from labor recruitment, management consultancy to administrative services. With the services, investors can shorten the investment preparation periods and quickly start their production, and can save management costs. The leasing fee in the IZs is VND53,200-74,500 per square meter a month. The Hiep Phuoc IZ with the Vietnam-Japan technology area is an example.  This is the first modern ready-made workshops for enterprises in supporting industries in HCM City. It helps investors deal with administrative procedures. The project is developed by the Vietnam-Japan Technology Company, a joint venture between Vie-Pan Industrial Park, belonging to Japanese Unika Holdings and Hiep Phuoc IZ JSC. The area covers an area of 13 hectares and it is developed with the estimated investment capital of $31 million. IZ developers in the Binh Duong, Long An and Dong Nai provinces are trying to develop ready-made workshops in an effort to lure investors to the localities. In Long An province, Phuc Long IZ has decided to build workshops on an area of 10,000 square meters for lease. It has the first investor – a business from South Korea. Ready-made workshops are also available in the IZs in the north. Nam Thang Long and Quang Minh I have reserved the land fund of 300 hectares to develop ready-made workshops to lease to South Korean investors. NCDT