The Biên Hòa 1 Industrial Zone, located in Biên Hòa City, Đồng Nai Province, was established in 1963 under the name Biên Hòa Technical Zone. It is the first industrial zone formed in the southern region of Vietnam and also the oldest industrial zone in the country. After 1975, the Biên Hòa Technical Zone was renamed Biên Hòa 1 Industrial Zone.
In 2008, Đồng Nai Province proposed to the Government to convert the function of Biên Hòa 1 Industrial Zone in order to protect the environment of the Đồng Nai River. On October 7, 2009, the Prime Minister agreed to convert Biên Hòa 1 Industrial Zone into a commercial and service urban area named Biên Hòa 1.
In late January 2021, the Prime Minister approved a decision to remove Biên Hòa 1 Industrial Zone from the development plan of Vietnamese industrial zones. However, due to policy complications and lack of funding, the project has been delayed for over 15 years.
Recently, the People’s Committee of Đồng Nai Province has approved a plan to convert Biên Hòa 1 Industrial Zone into a commercial and service urban area and improve the environment.
According to the People’s Committee of Đồng Nai Province, the relocation of businesses to implement the conversion plan of Biên Hòa 1 Industrial Zone is expected to be completed before December 2025.
Currently, Biên Hòa 1 Industrial Zone has 76 active businesses with over 21,000 employees. Among them, there are over 6,000 employees working in foreign-invested enterprises and over 15,000 employees working in domestic enterprises.
The plan to convert Biên Hòa 1 Industrial Zone into Biên Hòa 1 Commercial and Service Urban Area consists of two projects: the Central Political and Administrative Center project with an area of about 44 hectares and the Biên Hòa 1 Commercial and Service Urban Area project with an area of over 286 hectares.
