With flexible investment attraction policies, enthusiasm and effort of local authorities, Ninh Thuan province has strongly emerged as a attractive investment destination in the central region and the Central Highlands of Vietnam in recent years. Mr Pham Dong, Director of Ninh Thuan Department of Planning and Investment, said: "To attract more domestic and foreign investors to Ninh Thuan, apart from reforming administrative procedures and improving infrastructure systems, the province offers the highest incentives to investors in the framework of the central government, while providing the most support for investors when they carry out the their projects. Cong Luan reports.
Although Ninh Thuan has a convenient geographical location with plenty of advantages for the development of clean energy, tourism, mining and agriculture, it has had quite poor results in investment attraction, especially FDI capital. How will Ninh Thuan province overcome this shortage?
With the successful organisation of the conference on Ninh Thuan socio-economic development planning to 2020 and investment promotion in late 2011, together with administrative procedure reform in accordance with the "one stop shop" model for investment and business registration, and especially the establishment and operation of the Ninh Thuan Economic Development Office (EDO), the province achieved a better result in investment attraction over the past two years and saw more investors come to explore business opportunities. However, the number of projects completing procedures for investment certification, especially FDI projects, remains limited in relation to the local potentials and strengths. So far, the province has licensed 24 FDI projects with a total registered capital of VND11,750 billion.
To promote and attract investment capital, especially FDI, in the coming time, Ninh Thuan province will strongly focus on improving the business and investment environment, especially the operation of EDO, apply the provincial competitiveness index enhancement project, create an easy investment and business environment to attract investment capital of economic sectors and mobilise all resources for development investment. The province will strengthen investment promotion and image-building activities by implementing the master plan for Ninh Thuan socioeconomic development to 2020 established by foreign consultant Monitor Group and approved by the Prime Minister to attract renowned, well-reputed large corporations to invest in potential and advantageous fields. It will also coordinate with other provinces to organise investment promotion conferences in the country, actively participate in investment promotion conferences organised by ministries and central agencies to introduce its pluses to domestic and foreign investors.
Besides, Ninh Thuan province will accelerate infrastructure construction investment and improve human resource quality to add to its competitiveness in the eyes of investors. The province will focus on infrastructure investment, especially roads linking to seaports and airports in other provinces in the region. The current focus is the completion of a 116-km coastal route and a number of other important infrastructure works to attract more investors and develop tourism. Notably, Ninh Thuan province will concentrate on human resource training with the intention of building Ninh Thuan into the centre of high-quality human resource training to meet the demand for high-quality human resources in the province.
Resolute measures to unqualified investors or delayed projects will be important factors to increase the results of investment attraction. So, what has Ninh Thuan province done in this respect?
Our operating motto is "Always supporting investors to deal with obstacles to get projects done in the most favourable way." Accordingly, in 2012, the Provincial People’s Committee hosted many meetings to help investors to resolve their difficulties emerging from the process of carrying out their projects, especially in site clearance and land compensation stages. As a result, their investment projects moved faster. The province resolutely repudiates and withdraws investment licences of sluggish and inactive projects. In 2012, the Provincial People's Committee has cancelled seven projects approved in principle and withdrew investment certificates of five projects.
In the coming time, the Department of Planning and Investment of Ninh Thuan province continues to review and classify slow-going projects to advise the Provincial People’s Committee to end financially incapable projects to give the opportunity for new investors with real capacity and determination.
As known, Ninh Thuan province offers the highest incentives to catch the attention of domestic and foreign investors to 46 projects planned for the 2011 - 2015 period. What are these incentives? Among 46 projects on the list, could you tell us the ones that will help the province to spur social and economic development in the future?
Ninh Thuan province provides the highest incentives for investors in the regulatory framework of the Government and will provide the most support for them when they carry out their projects.
Ninh Thuan province is a locality of investment encouragement. Many of its districts belong to the group of special investment encouragement. Therefore, investors will be offered the highest preferences in land tax, corporate income tax and import duty when they locate their projects here. Depending on fields of investment, investors will be exempted from land rents for 11-15 years. Particularly, projects classified in the fields of special investment encouragement like clean energy development will be exempted from land taxes throughout the validity period of their projects.
As regards corporate income tax, investment projects enjoy the highest preference in corporate income tax rate, 10 per cent in a 15 years’ time. They are exempted from corporate income tax for the first four years dating from the year with taxable income and granted a 50 per cent reduction in the next nine years.
Concerning investment projects, the province has announced a list of 46 investment projects, focusing on large projects in six approved economic pillars like renewable energy, tourism, manufacturing industry, and specially supporting industries for the construction of two blueprint nuclear power plants.
Given the current global economic context, it is very hard to attract clean energy investment projects due to high risks. Therefore, in order to realise its intended projects, what should Ninh Thuan province do to support investors?
As clean energy projects usually require a huge investment capital and a long time for capital recovery, to carry out the clean energy development strategy, the Government issued Decision 37/2011/QD-TTg dated June 29, 2011 on support mechanisms for wind power development projects in Vietnam.
To support clean energy investors to deploy their projects, Ninh Thuan province applies the highest incentives within the framework of the government to investors like full land tax exemption, best corporate income tax of 10 per cent, corporate income tax exemption in the four first years dating from the year with taxable income and a 50 per cent reduction in the next nine years.
At the same time, the province assists investors to complete investment procedures, land and other procedures to quickly implement their projects.
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