Study and evaluation on sustainable industrial development in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam

• A case study aims to analyze sustainable industrial development in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam.
• An indicator system for evaluating sustainable industrial development was built.
• A quantitative approach with principal component analysis method was used.
• The sustainability of industrial development in 13 provinces and city of the Mekong Delta was ranked.
• Policies are offered for accelerating sustainable industrial development.

The process of industrial development in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam has achieved many encouraging results. However, the theory and practice of sustainable development is relatively backward, in particular sustainable industrial development lacks clear visions, targets and indicators for sustainable development. Many efforts have been made to build an indicator system that aims to assess and monitor sustainable industrial development at different levels. However, the arguments in selecting indicators and methods to evaluate sustainable industrial development of the Mekong Delta are many and highly contested. The article has built an indicator system for evaluating sustainable industrial development based on the content of industrial development and some basic principles that should be followed by the system, along with the current status of the industrial development in the Mekong Delta. Comprising the three pillars of sustainable development in general, this system includes the three aspects of sustainable development, namely, economic, society, and environmental subsystem. With this indicator system and principal component analysis method, the case study has taken a quantitative approach to assess sustainable industrial development in the Mekong Delta. The detailed subsystem of calculations and discussions indicates that industrial development in the Mekong Delta is unsustainable. The efficiency in developing the industrial sector to create the socio-economic growth and promote the Mekong Delta's environment exhibited a downward trend. Further, the authors rank the sustainability of industrial development in 13 provinces and city of the Mekong Delta. Finally, some pieces of advice are offered for accelerating sustainable industrial development in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. Overall, this article incorporates a quantitative analysis based on ranking and comparing of sustainable industrial factors that can prove to be useful for any innovative, emergent developing nation wishing to implement sustainable industrial development policies.