Scenario: a Korean auto-parts supplier is weighing two sites: Trang Due Industrial Park (Hai Phong) and the Quang Yen coastal economic zone (Quang Ninh). Can the economic zone add incentives beyond the established auto cluster?
Two pillars of a Quang Yen parts project
The Law on Investment 143/2025/QH15 (effective 1 March 2026, replacing Law 61/2020/QH14) provides in Articles 15 and 16 the incentive forms: corporate income tax, land-rent and land-use-fee exemptions or reductions, and investment support. The Law on Corporate Income Tax 67/2025/QH15 (effective 1 October 2025) sets the standard 20% rate; 15% for annual revenue up to VND 3 billion, 17% for revenue over VND 3 billion to VND 50 billion; encouraged-sector projects — including supporting industry — qualify for 10% over 15 years, a four-year exemption and a 50% reduction of payable tax for nine further years.
A Quang Yen coastal-zone parts project enjoys two pillars at once. First, qualifying auto-parts manufacturing is supporting industry — encouraged under Decree 31/2021/ND-CP (cited until replaced). Second, the in-zone location brings zone-mechanism incentives: corporate income tax breaks and land-rent relief on preferential terms. Decree 103/2024/ND-CP governs the land-rent side.
Quang Yen versus Trang Due
On the “basket,” an in-zone Quang Yen project — if conditions are met — can combine the sector pillar (supporting industry) with the zone pillar: the chosen best tax frame on parts income, plus long-term land-rent relief under the zone mechanism. A Trang Due project (outside any zone) leans mainly on the sector pillar, but compensates with a mature auto supply ecosystem: near assembly plants and tier-1, tier-2 suppliers.
Quang Yen’s own edge: a coastal economic zone with seaport access, favourable for exporting parts and importing materials; large available industrial land at competitive cost. The choice turns on strategy: a thicker location-based basket points to Quang Yen; plugging into an existing supply chain points to Trang Due. In both cases, Article 15 of the Law on Investment applies: one best tier per tax type at a time.
The global minimum tax warning for the auto sector
Under Resolution 107/2023/QH15 and Decree 236/2025/ND-CP, the minimum top-up tax applies from 1 January 2024 to groups with consolidated revenue above EUR 750 million. Global parts suppliers in major carmakers’ chains typically fall in scope — a low in-zone rate at Quang Yen may trigger top-up tax at group level.
The financial model must therefore price the top-up scenario, and the incentive structure should lean on less-exposed forms: long-term in-zone land-rent relief, infrastructure and workforce-training support — value the global minimum tax cannot erode.
Checklist for a Quang Yen project
Confirm the site inside the Quang Yen coastal zone under the approved master plan; map supporting-industry criteria and Appendix II of Decree 31/2021; work with the Quang Ninh Economic Zone Authority on zone-mechanism eligibility; lock land-rent relief under Decree 103/2024; assess the global minimum tax at group level; record incentives in the Investment Registration Certificate.
1. What does an in-zone Quang Yen parts project get?
If conditions are met, a dual pillar: supporting-industry sector incentives plus zone-mechanism incentives (tax plus long-term land rent).
2. Quang Yen or Trang Due for auto parts?
Quang Yen wins on the zone location basket and seaport export access; Trang Due wins on the established supply ecosystem. Choose by strategy.
3. Can the sector and zone tax frames combine?
Not for the same tax type at the same time. Under Article 15 of the Law on Investment, each income stream takes one best tax frame.
4. What is the export edge via Quang Ninh ports?
The coastal zone’s seaport proximity cuts logistics costs for exporting parts and importing materials — a material non-tax advantage.
5. What should suppliers in big carmakers’ chains note on the minimum tax?
They typically exceed EUR 750 million in consolidated revenue, so top-up tax applies from 1 January 2024; a low rate may trigger additional tax.
This article has been quality-reviewed by the FLAW AI Legal Council