Speaking at the conference, Mr. Pham Nguyen Toan, Vice President of the Vietnam Real Estate Association, Chairman of the Vietnam Industrial Real Estate Association, Editor-in-Chief of Reatimes Magazine, said that Vietnam is still among the countries attracting the most FDI in the developing world. In the first 6 months of 2025, the total registered FDI capital reached over 21.5 billion USD, up 32.6% over the same period, the highest level since 2009. Realized FDI capital also reached over 11.7 billion USD, up 8.1%, a record for the period 2021 – 2025. The manufacturing and processing industry accounts for the largest proportion, affirming Vietnam’s position as an attractive “factory” for international investors.

However, Mr. Toan also commented that besides great opportunities, Vietnam’s industrial real estate still faces many challenges. For example, ESG standards are increasingly becoming a “passport” to attract investment, but implementation in industrial parks is still slow, mainly due to high costs, management thinking has not shifted to a sustainable direction, human resources and technology are still lacking, while policies have not covered industrial plants.

Regarding infrastructure, the connecting traffic system is still not synchronous; some industrial parks are far from seaports and highways, increasing logistics costs. The risk of power shortages, overloaded or substandard wastewater treatment systems, along with lack of or poor quality support services in industrial parks, all directly affect productivity and labor welfare.

Regarding institutions, laws regulating industrial real estate are still overlapping, the project approval process is lengthy, and there is a lack of testing mechanisms for new models. Despite decentralization, many localities do not have the capacity to handle quickly, and there is still a lack of priority policies specifically for strategic sectors. Combined with global economic fluctuations, these are barriers that can slow down FDI flows.

Regionally, according to Mr. Toan, Vietnam is facing competitive pressure from Indonesia, India, Thailand, and Malaysia, all of which have strong investment incentive policies, abundant labor resources, and advantages in a number of key manufacturing industries. “If we do not improve our policies, we will easily lose our advantages, especially in industries that have not yet completed their supply chains,” Mr. Toan warned.

Providing more information on the above situation, Mr. Nguyen Van Khoi, Chairman of the Vietnam Real Estate Association, admitted that currently, the occupancy rate in many industrial parks and clusters is below 85%, with only a few localities reaching over 95%. Many problems still exist, such as the 20% US counterpart tax, along with difficulties in compensation and site clearance…

VNREA leaders suggested that Association members need to carefully study Decree 87/2025/ND-CP of the Government regulating the reduction of land rent in 2024 to propose a policy of exempting and reducing land rent by 30% in 2024, because the dossier expired on July 31.

“The Association Office will open an online exchange channel for members of the Industrial Real Estate and Tourism Associations… to update and share. Senior experts and National Assembly delegates participating all contributed frankly, helping to increase the weight of the Association’s common voice. The Association will propose to continue reducing land rent in the period of 2026 – 2027 because businesses are still facing difficulties. At the same time, it is proposed to study the long-term land lease mechanism of 70 – 99 years…,” said Mr. Khoi.