Vietnam provinces pledge support foreign investors after riots

Representatives from Binh Duong, Dong Nai and Ba Ria-Vung Tau authorities paid visits to the affected companies in industrial parks where mobs vandalized factories, looted and attacked security guards after protests against Chinese oil-drilling in Vietnamese waters turned violent.

Tran Thanh Liem, vice chairman of Binh Duong Province People’s Committee, apologized to the companies for the damages. He said the local government will strictly punish rioters and take drastic measures to crack down on local gangsters to prevent similar events in the future.

Liem said authorities are working to help affected companies resume business activities.

According to the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park 1 (VSIP1), which is home to 326 companies with 115,000 workers, a riot occurred in the park on May 13, forcing all companies to shut down in two days.

By Friday, 208 companies in the park had resumed operation.

The Nam Tan Uyen Industrial Park in Binh Duong’s Tan Uyen Town said more than 2,500 workers of South Korean apparel company Poong In Vina got back to work on Friday.

In Dong Nai Province, the provincial People’s Committee has asked the management boards of industrial parks to calculate the damages caused by rioters and put forwards measures to support the affected companies.

By Friday, around 140,000 workers of 300 Taiwanese and Chinese-invested companies in industrial parks across the province had not got back to work yet.

Other South Korean and Japanese companies had resumed operation.

Seven working teams sent by the local government to affected companies have proposed that the local government order insurance companies to quickly finalize procedures to compensate affected companies and order local banks to give loans to the companies.

The teams said that the local government should support the companies by reducing land-lease fees and reduce some taxes in a certain period of time.

Authorities of Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province also pledged to ensure the safety of foreign investors to the highest level.

On Friday all the companies in industrial parks across the province re-opened after several days of hiatus.