On March 28, Dong Nai Provincial People's Committee held a meeting and dialogue with more than 350 FDI enterprises in the area.

At the conference, representatives of FDI enterprises and business associations raised issues regarding environmental licenses, value-added tax (VAT) refunds, foreign workers' accommodation in industrial parks, and upgrading industrial park infrastructure, etc.

Proposal not to penalize businesses that have submitted environmental records

Specifically, according to the representative of the Taiwan Chamber of Commerce, recently the Environmental Protection Law has new regulations. Enterprises investing in production and business must supplement their environmental records according to regulations.

There are a number of enterprises that are members of the association that have submitted applications for environmental licenses in 2024 that need to be supplemented and adjusted, so they need time to complete their environmental documents and cannot be completed in time in 2024.

Therefore, the association expressed its wish that the leaders of Dong Nai province consider the case of enterprises that have submitted their application for environmental licenses before January 1, 2025, have had their applications assessed according to regulations but have not yet been granted an environmental license, to be considered, facilitated to complete their environmental applications and not be subject to administrative sanctions for these applications.

For accommodation facilities in industrial parks, if the enterprise has registered and built in accordance with the provisions of law before Decree 35/2022/ND-CP takes effect.

At the same time, fully meet the standards of infrastructure, fire safety and related regulations.

The Association recommends that Dong Nai province leaders review and inspect to recognize this accommodation area as legal, creating conditions for businesses to continue using it, ensuring stable accommodation for foreign experts.

Meanwhile, a representative of YKK Vietnam Co., Ltd. (Nhon Trach 3 Industrial Park, Nhon Trach District) expressed concerns and worries about on-site import and export. This problem is not only faced by YKK Company but also by Japanese, Korean, and Taiwanese enterprises.

Since March 2024, Dong Nai Tax Department has temporarily postponed VAT refunds for businesses. This has caused businesses to face cash flow difficulties. Therefore, the company has requested a VAT refund.

Violation of environmental procedures

Answering the business's question, according to the law, on January 1, 2025, if a business has not submitted an application for an environmental license, it is a violation of environmental procedures, not a violation causing environmental pollution or health.

In recent years, Dong Nai has issued documents requiring businesses to comply, and most businesses have complied. However, for some reasons, some businesses have not yet implemented the regulations, and will only prepare environmental documents in November and December 2024.

Meanwhile, the procedure requires the establishment of an inspection team, an appraisal council or an appraisal team before submitting the application to the board. Enterprises that submit their application late according to regulations will be penalized.

Since the beginning of 2025, the Dong Nai Industrial Park Management Board has advised on 25 decisions on procedural penalties. As for the environment, there are no problems with remediation.

Regarding the issue of accommodation in industrial parks, the leader of the Department of Construction of Dong Nai province said that Decree 35 clearly stipulates that accommodation facilities must be built on service land, while factory land cannot be used to build accommodation facilities.

To solve the problem of accommodation for foreign workers and experts, Dong Nai province has assigned the Industrial Park Management Board to coordinate and review land fund calculations and arrange the construction of temporary accommodation facilities and dormitories.

In addition, Dong Nai province has a resolution to build 10,000 social housing units, including workers' housing, by 2025. In addition, businesses need to calculate and prepare accommodation for foreign experts and workers.