Project stalled
After many years of suspension due to the impact of border trade policy and the COVID-19 epidemic, the investor of the Refrigeration Food Storage and Import-Export Goods Storage Area project in Ha Lang commune is wishing to propose to terminate the project ahead of schedule.
Talking to a reporter of Lao Dong Newspaper on July 1, Mr. Pham Van Ngoc - Director of Ngoc Hoa Construction Co., Ltd. - said that the enterprise is carrying out procedures to request termination of project operations, but has only been approved for temporary suspension by functional agencies.
According to Mr. Ngoc, the project was invested by the enterprise in 2011, in the context of strong border gate economic activities in Ha Lang district, and increased demand for warehouses serving import and export of goods. The enterprise expects this to be a long-term investment direction.
However, since 2013, trade activities through border areas have been restricted, then the COVID-19 epidemic caused a serious decrease in the number of import and export vehicles.
These fluctuations have made the project almost unable to operate, forcing the business to stop all operations.
At the end of 2025, Ngoc Hoa Construction Co., Ltd. sent a notice to the Management Board of Cao Bang Economic Zone about temporarily suspending project operations from January 1, 2026 to January 1, 2027.
After that, the Management Board of Cao Bang Economic Zone issued a notice approving the temporary suspension and requesting businesses to report when there is a plan to continue implementation according to regulations.
Previously, Lao Dong Newspaper reflected that this project was leased land by Cao Bang Provincial People's Committee from 2013 but has not been put into use for many years, causing waste of land fund.
According to Conclusion No. 859/KL-TTr of the Inspectorate of Cao Bang province, the project was approved for investment policy from 2011 and completed land allocation and land lease procedures in 2013.
However, by 2020, the project had not been completed according to the committed progress and the land was abandoned for a long time.
The project has many violations
Notably, the Provincial Inspectorate determined that at the time the Provincial People's Committee leased the land, the land use plan of Ha Lang district (old) had not been approved. After the plan was issued, the project was also not supplemented to the plan and land use plan for the 2011-2015 period.
In addition, the project was previously started when the site had not been handed over and there was no construction permit as prescribed.
During the suspension period, a part of the land area was used by people to grow crops, but businesses have not fully implemented their responsibilities for managing and protecting leased land.
The Inspectorate also pointed out many environmental protection items that are degraded due to prolonged project shutdowns, and at the same time said that the inspection and supervision of project implementation progress by some management agencies is not regular and timely.
Talking to PV, a representative of the Cao Bang Provincial Economic Zone Management Board said that the project is still temporarily suspended until January 1, 2027 according to the company's announcement.
According to the proposal of the Provincial Inspectorate, the Economic Zone Management Board continues to guide businesses to complete procedures to adjust investment progress or carry out procedures to terminate operations if they are no longer eligible for deployment.
In case the extension period expires but the project is still not put into use, the functional agency will advise the Provincial People's Committee to revoke the Investment Certificate according to regulations.
For the Department of Agriculture and Environment, the Provincial Inspectorate requested to review the responsibilities of collectives and individuals related to advising on land allocation and lease when conditions on planning were not met.
At the same time, the department needs to strengthen supervision of land use, avoiding continued wastefulness.
On the business side, the Inspectorate requested to urgently overcome the shortcomings and coordinate with functional agencies to complete procedures to adjust the progress.
In case it is no longer capable of implementing the project, the Company must report to competent authorities to terminate operations and return the land to the State for management according to regulations.
