With abundant potential and advantages plus efforts of local authorities at all levels, Dak Lak has now risen to become a leading light in investment attraction. The impressive success in investment attraction confirms the central dynamic role and position of the province in the Central Highlands. Vietnam Business Forum interviews Mr Dinh Xuan Ha, Deputy Director of the Provincial Department of Planning and Investment, on this aspect. Minh Kiet and Le Dien report.
By effectively utilising its advantages, especially its position as the heart and engine of growth in the Central Highlands, Dak Lak province has achieved impressive results in investment attraction. Could you tell us more about this success with specific numbers?
Based on existing potential and advantages together with the efforts of local authorities, the province has actively implemented many investment promotion programmes and obtained positive results. The number of investment projects has increased significantly since 2006. The province has licensed 540 projects with a total registered investment capital of VND65 trillion (US$3.2 billion) from 2006 to 2013, including nine FDI projects capitalised at US$169.21 million.
Operational projects have generated high economic and social efficiency, increased State Budget revenues, created jobs and changed the face of the province. These include hydropower projects invested by the Electricity of Vietnam - EVN (VND10 trillion or nearly US$500 million), Saigon - Dak Lak beer brewery project with an annual output of 70 million litres (VND735 billion). Besides, trade centre, supermarket, market, animal feed processing and instant coffee processing projects also play an important role in restructuring the local economy, which is featured by an increasing proportion of industry, construction, trade and service value in GDP, and a reducing proportion of agriculture and forestry; reducing poverty; creating jobs; and increasing State budget revenues.
Creating an open investment environment and streamlining administrative procedures is a major way to pull investment capital. How has the province focused on this issue in the past years?
Defining that administrative reform is extremely important to improve the local investment environment, the Provincial People’s Committee has therefore centrally guided and inspected public administration reforms in order to enhance State management effectiveness and efficiency, applying the single-window mechanism, and forming a favourable investment environment for investors. The Provincial People’s Committee has issued the Dak Lak Public Administration Reform Programme for 2011-2020 and the Public Administration Reform Plan for 2012-2015 and issued regulations on orders, processes and coordinating mechanisms for the settlement of administrative procedures concerning investment outside industrial zones in order to specify orders, procedures and coordinating mechanisms concerning procedures of direct investment.
To improve the province's investment environment, evidenced in the provincial competitiveness index (PCI), Dak Lak province promulgated and implemented the Action Plan for PCI Improvement in 2010-2015 period. Every year, the province assesses and analyses contents done and undone in the PCI Improvement Plan, while building the plan for the following year. In the future, this action plan programme will continue to be implemented to improve the local investment environment.
Incomplete planning is a common problem in many localities, including Dak Lak province. Inadequate planning will lead to difficulty in investment attraction. So, how will the province deal with this bottleneck?
Regarding planning issues, the province has actively and comprehensively reviewed, adjusted, approved and announced infrastructure development plans until 2020, thus laying the base for drawing investment capital for infrastructure development. The province also develops, reviews, supplements and adjusts existing plans. However, at a certain extent, some plans (especially sector planning) are slowly adjusted and reviewed, hence failing to meet the requirements of authorities and investors. Competent agencies will advise and recommend this issue to the provincial government.
Apart from specific incentives for investors, Dak Lak also requires investors’ bindings to their effective project implementation. So, what are specifically the bindings?
Apart from special incentives for investors, to implement projects effectively and ensure benefits for both the locality and investors in the process of project implementation, investors must coordinate with the provincial government to carry out registration procedures and investment management. Currently, the order of investment procedures in Dak Lak province is specified in Decision 48/2012/QD-UBND dated December 4, 2012. Hence, investors need careful study to follow the procedure, particularly if they need land for their projects.
The province has some specific bindings for investors. Firstly, they must ensure the implementation of investment projects by paying deposits or submitting banks’ letter of guarantee which equals 5 percent of total project costs. This deposit value will be returned to investors after they complete project construction works and prepare for business operations. Secondly, they must keep up with the progress stated in the investment certification papers and the province regularly reviews their investment progress. Thirdly, they will have their projects revoked if they fail to keep up schedule. To date, the province has revoked 10 projects, mainly due to being behind schedule.
Currently, the provincial government is directing its affiliates to work on a coordinating mechanism for investment management. The province will perform inspections and tests and work with investors to seek solutions to any problems in carrying out their projects. Once detected, the province will correct or punish investment projects that do not comply with initially registered contents.
In the coming time, to attract high-quality investment projects, with priority given to high-tech, high-value, environment-friendly and economy-driving projects, what measures and policies will the province take?
In the coming time, to improve investment attraction efficiency, to leverage the local economy to a high level of sustainability, Dak Lak will implement the investment process in accordance with Decision 48/2012/QD-UBND to sort out and select the best investment projects and attract investment projects based on approved planning. Registered projects must complete environmental procedures to be granted investment certificates and given investment incentives specified in Resolution 27/2011/NQ-HDND dated December 22, 2011 on investment encouragement and support in the province in the 2011-2015 phase, particularly high-tech projects that the province is seeking. Last but not least, the province will give priority to high quality human resources development to meet the needs of local economic development, industrialisation and modernisation.
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