Despite difficulties in all aspects of a newly formed province (01/01/2004), Hau Giang has paid great efforts to promote efficiently its own advantages. This helps the province quickly create a milestone and draw attention of investors, especially FDI investors. Vietnam Business Forum has made an interview with Mr Vo Ta Thang, Director of the Department of Planning and Investment.
Could you please give us more details about the results achieved in Hau Giang to attract FDI? What are the key factors to contribute to the success?
If before being divided, the province had no FDI projects; currently, Hau Giang has attracted 27 FDI projects with total capital of US$732.65 millions, of which 15 projects with 100 percent foreign investment with total of US$641.83 millions. The FDI projects account for 20 percent of total registered capital.
To increase efficiency in attracting FDI, Hau Giang focuses on promoting the reform of administrative procedures, shortening time for registration, investment procedures, and business registration towards quickness to create an open investment environment for investors; taking advantage of the investment incentives for investors in Hau Giang province under the law; accelerating site clearance and improving infrastructure of the industrial zones in the province; and successfully organising the conferences on domestic and foreign investment promotion in order to introduce potential and investment opportunities in the province. Besides, Hau Giang gets attention and active supports from the central and local leaders to mobilize and attract the FDI investors in the province. This is also a great advantage for attracting FDI in Hau Giang recently.
However, compared to other provinces, Hau Giang has not attracted the quality of FDI projects in terms of both quality and quantity as expected. How can the province overcome such limitations?
In general, the FDI projects of the province have not met the quality criteria; some projects are very small scaled with weak activities and low added value; some of them has very slow deployment and low investment value.
To overcome these limitations, in the next time, the province will review the FDI projects as well as the FDI enterprises in the province. For the projects that were registered and implemented but still in troubles, the province will set up a team that will directly supports for such the projects in order to solve these difficulties and accelerate implementation of the projects for early completion and operation. For the businesses that are operating effectively but still needed for expansion, they will be supported to complete the relevant administrative procedures quickly.
To complete infrastructure of the industrial zones to meet the needs of investors, the Provincial People's Committee regularly reviews and directs the relevant departments to accelerate clearance and complete ancillary works such as sewage treatment facilities, main roads to the industrial zones; accelerating the implementation of projects of power plants and water plants of large capacity to ensure adequate supply and stable operation of the industrial zones. Besides, the province also focuses on training and attracting quality human resources for the existing and future FDI projects.
To obtain great opportunities from ASEAN and the ASEAN Economic Community that will be formed by the end of 2015 and take advantage of agricultural and tourism resources, what action plans will Hau Giang apply to further attract FDI? What areas will the province focus on?
To obtain for the opportunities from the ASEAN countries, Hau Giang focuses on promoting administrative reform; completing infrastructure of the industrial parks; training and selecting the high-quality from the vocational training centres; and strengthening the advocacy to introduce potentials and incentives of the province. Besides, the province actively organizes and participates in the conferences on national and international investment promotion; especially in 2016, Hau Giang will host the Mekong Delta Economic Forum 2016.
Hau Giang will call for investment in competitive areas of the province such as handicraft industry like knitting, paving, embroidery, furniture, printing, lacquering, and carving; tourism; agriculture and fisheries like sugarcane, rice, aquaculture, specialty fruit, and vegetables, along with the processing industry and export; infrastructure; urban development; and banking.
To leverage investment in the coming years, the province will focus on four key issues like land, construction and infrastructure; human resources and vocational training; support for investors; and promotion and selection of investment partners. Could you please tell us in more detail about this action program?
In terms of land, the province only focuses on accelerating the land clearance and compensation and quick planning the clean areas to be ready to receive investment projects. The province continues to accelerate the construction of infrastructure areas of the industrial parks, cities and projects outside the zones, and other industrial routes. Along with investment in infrastructure inside and outside the industrial zones of the province, annually the province spends annual budget to partially support for infrastructure of the high-tech industrial parks to provide "seed capital" and "stimulate" the investment of the investors.
To create favourable conditions for the development of the human resources, the province focuses on completing the construction of the vocational schools in the province; upgrading, renovating, and investing in the modern equipments for the vocational training centres of the province to improve the capacity and quality of human resources to meet the market demands, connecting the general education with vocational education as well as the theory with practice. Especially, the province provides training courses for staffs in the field of international relations, international law, and high technology to better meet the requirements of the investment project.
To create favourable conditions for the investors, the province expands and implements appropriate support policies for the FDI enterprises of the province and create favourable conditions to solve the problems of investors through the decentralization of the specialized agencies. Along with supports for investors, Hau Giang also focuses on promoting and selecting investment partners. Accordingly, the province builds up a strategic investment promotion plans to meet the specific needs of socio- economy; strengthening the investment promotion officials with qualifications and capabilities to enhance the foreign cooperation for investment activities; tightening the relationship with the law and investment consulting firms to get information and assistance in the process of formulating legal system and mobilizing investment.
In 2015 and upcoming years, the province will further promote the investment potentials and come up with more solutions and incentives for investors who have passions for investing in the province. To rapidly and sustainably develop, Hau Giang will focus on solutions that help attract more and more investment in all industries and sectors, particularly high-tech agricultural projects, thereby enhancing the competitiveness of goods and services of the province over other provinces in the country and in the region.
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