Investment Flows into Bo Y Int’l Border Gate Economic Zone: On the Move

Bo Y International Border Gate Economic Zone is one of 26 border-sharing economic zones in Vietnam. It shares the borderline with Laos and Cambodia, and rests on Vietnam - Laos - Cambodia Development Triangle approved by the Prime Ministers of three nations. After National Road 18B of Laos that connects Bo Y - Phu Cua Border Gate to southern Laos and northeastern Thailand was completed and put into use, export, import and trading activities via Bo Y International Border Gate have surged in recent years.

 

So far, Bo Y International Border Gate Economic Zone has become a major freight transit point on the international trade route linking Myanmar to Northeast Thailand, to southern provinces of Laos and to key economic zones with big seaports in Central Vietnam like Lien Chieu (Da Nang), Dung Quat (Quang Ngai) and Quy Nhon (Binh Dinh). This is further affirmed when the ASEAN Economic Community was officially established on December 131, 2015 and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) takes effect in early 2018. Therefore, investments in border trade development in general and border gate trade and logistics development in particular in Bo Y International Border Gate Economic Zone will help investors to catch a plenty of opportunities against the backdrop of Vietnam’s deeper international economic integration.

 

With the support of the Government and central authorities and the effort of the province, the infrastructure system in Bo Y International Border Gate Economic Zone has been gradually upgraded and investment attraction into border gate industrial and economic areas achieved positive results. Investment projects in border gate industrial and economic zones positively contributed to local economic restructuring, employment and State budget increase. To date, Bo Y International Border Gate Economic Zone has 62 investment projects with a combined registered capital of VND1,335.04 billion, of which VND520.95 billion has been disbursed. Licensed investment projects are mainly specialised in producing and processing forest products, rubber and tapioca; operating bonded warehouses, warehousing services, cargo inspection and other import and export activities, and doing border gate trade.

 

In the past years, investors in Bo Y International Border Gate Economic Zone has contributed actively to promoting socioeconomic development, stabilising and improving people’s living quality, increasing the State budget revenue and creating jobs for labourers in Kon Tum province. In addition, the operation of Bo Y International Border Gate Economic Zone has facilitated the growth of economic and commercial cooperation investment in localities in the Development Triangle, especially in southern provinces of Laos (in the 2005 - 2015 period, export and import turnover reached US$1.07 billion, over 2.4 million people transited the gate, nearly 300,000 vehicles passed the gate, and total budget revenue grossed VND1,295.8 billion).

 

 

According to the plan approved, the capital demand for infrastructure investment in the border gate economic zone is very huge. In the past time, with the support of the Government and central authorities plus the efforts of the province, the infrastructure system in Bo Y International Border Gate Economic Zone has been considerably invested.

 

To date, 43 infrastructure investment projects with VND4,758.6 billion (VND1,502,.69 billion from the State budget) have been carried out in the Bo Y International Border Gate Economic Zone to build traffic, electricity, water supply and border gate control areas. This investment has ensured smooth operations and investment, trade, export and import activities between Vietnam with provinces in southern Laos and northeastern via Bo Y International Border Gate Economic Zone. According to the medium-term public investment plan in the 2016 - 2020 phase, the Kon Tum Economic Zones Authority plans to invest VND341 billion for the economic zone. At present, the Bo Y International Border Gate Economic Zone is carrying out a plenty of solutions to mobilise investment resources to complete the infrastructure system and expand public-private partnership (PPP) form.

 

In addition to the one-stop division created to simplify administrative procedures, receive administrative procedures and return settlement results to investors, the Kon Tum Economic Zones Authority set up the Investment Support Committee to provide information on investment, including the list of investment projects, investment mechanisms and incentives.

 

Additionally, the Kon Tum Economic Zones Authority guides and supports investors to contact relevant authorities to complete investment procedures to bring their projects to the Bo Y International Border Gate Economic Zone, and directly assists them to carry out land compensation and site clearance to put their projects into operation soon. Besides, the authority has actively renovated its activities, methods and instructions to increase its helpful assistances for investors.

 

In the 2016 - 2020 period, the central task will be infrastructure development investment for Area I, Area II and Area III - Bo Y International Border Gate Economic Zone to attract investment capital for developing border trade and services and develop Ngoc Hoi Town to shape trade - service development chains. Specifically, the border market network development plan launched by the Ministry of Industry and Trade will be carried out. The authority will consider developing markets in combination with handicraft villages inside the economic zone to manufacture handicrafts, household utensils and furniture to serve tourists, meet local market demands and to export to other countries. It will call for investment capital for non-tariff business areas.

 

In addition, we will attract investment capital for other general trade and service forms to serve export and import activities via Bo Y International Border Gate Economic Zone such as bonded warehouses, export and import assembly points, customs clearance points, logistics hubs, and distribution systems. It will push up tourism development cooperation based on the “three countries, one destination” policy, develop caravan tourism via Bo Y International Border Gate Economic Zone and along the East - West Economic Corridor. It will cooperate with Attapeu province (Laos), Rattanikiri province (Cambodia) and other provinces to open interconnected tours to tap tourism potential along the East - West Economic Corridor, including the border-sharing site of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.