Cao Bang province has intensified its investment promotion in recent years to draw more investors into industrial parks and economic zones. Ahead of the Northwest Investment Promotion and Social Security Conference 2015, Vietnam Business Forum interviewed Mr Nguyen Hoang Anh, Chairman Cao Bang Provincial People's Committee, to find out the province’s breakthrough measures in investment attraction. Nguyen Bach reports.
How are the potential, advantages and investment environment of Cao Bang province?
Since the Law on Investment took effect in 2005, the province of Cao Bang has granted investment licences to 182 projects with a total registered capital of VND26 trillion (US$1.2 billion), including 13 foreign-invested projects with US$51.5 million. Endowed with abundant and rich mineral resources in large reserves, hydropower and mining industries are considered the strengths of the province in the past years. However, as public investment was cut, local businesses faced up with enormous difficulties in finance sources, input materials and shrinking consumption markets. Investors seemed to lose interest in making new investments. For that reason, in 2014, the province called for more investment capital into industrial manufacturing and infrastructure construction in industrial parks and economic zones to pave the new way for tourism service development, high-tech projects and urban infrastructure projects.
In 2014, the province licensed 29 new projects, including two with an individual investment value of over VND100 billion namely the VND808.25 billion ultrafine ore processing project with a yearly output of 600,000 tonnes invested by Tay Giang Industry Group Joint Stock Company and the VND180.743 billion housing construction project invested by Investment and Export Import Corporation in Na Can.
In addition, some projects were registered to invest in new promising fields like a VND10 billion project that applies advanced technologies to high-quality green tea production in Nguyen Binh district, invested by Western Construction Co., Ltd or a VND20 billion LPG refilling plant invested by Construction and Installation Joint Stock Company. Besides, the province specially focused on the border economic development because this is one of important driving forces to accelerate the pace of growth and economic restructuring and generate ripple effects on other economic zones. In 2014, Cao Bang did not have any new foreign-invested project. Currently, Cao Bang border gate economic zones (Ta Lung, Tra Linh and Soc Giang) are housing 48 domestic investment projects and nine foreign-led projects, of which 25 projects are in operation. Effective economic and industrial zone development policies have helped the province to draw more investment projects into industrial parks and economic zones.
What policies has Cao Bang province introduced to ensure the effective operation of investment projects, strengthen the confidence of investors and businesses in the local business and investment environment, and align with investors?
On September 22, 2014, the province launched the Investment Promotion Programme for 2015 to implement the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 03/2014/QD-TTg dated January 14, 2014 on State management on investment activities. The core contents of the programme are: Building investment promotion database system; speed up the introduction of investment environment, policies, potential and opportunities; training and fostering the capacity of investment promoters; supporting businesses and investors to study the investment environment; and regularly meeting with businesses to learn about their difficulties, apply solutions to those difficulties and promote the investing efficiency in the province. The province has also accelerated public administration reform and built infrastructure to improve the investment environment, particularly in rural areas.
Under the programme, the province will call for 13 investment projects in 2015. Specifically, five projects will be located in and industrial zones and border gate economic zones, including a project to build infrastructure system in Chu Trinh Industrial Park, a project to build a nontariff zone in Ta Lung International Border Gate, a project to build a wastewater treatment plant in Ta Lung town, Phuc Hoa district, a project to build a trade centre, showrooms and border markets in Ban Gioc landscape site, and a project to build a wood processing facility. Eight projects will invest in hydropower and wood processing: Khuoi Ru hydropower plant, Ban Nga hydropower plant, Hong Nam hydropower plant, Ban Rieng hydropower plant, Khuoi Luong hydropower plant, Ban Chieu hydropower plant, Ban Dang hydropower plant, and a forestation and wood processing project. The province will focus on drawing foreign direct investment (FDI) capital, with priority given to high-tech, tourism and high-grade services.
To catch the fancy of more investors, the province has cooperated with central agencies to organise more investment promotion events and support districts to carry out their investment promotion activities to exert a pull on fields of local advantage and strength.
In addition to improving the investment climate and reforming administrative procedures to draw more investment capital for business development and infrastructure construction, the province will attract more infrastructure construction investment projects for industrial zones in 2015. Cao Bang will invite investors to invest in high-tech, supporting industries, urban infrastructure development, export-oriented production, energy-saving and resource-efficient projects.
With clear direction, the province is confident to draw more investment projects in 2015.
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