Hi-tech Industry Investment Encouraged

With the policy “rolling out the red carpet to welcome investors”, Binh Duong province has become one of the biggest recipients of investment capital and a favoured destination for domestic and foreign investors. This success in investment attraction in the past 20 years has created breakthroughs in socioeconomic development. Vietnam Business Forum Magazine has an interview with Mr Nguyen Thanh Truc, Director of the Department of Planning and Investment of Binh Duong province, on achievements and orientations of investment attraction in the coming time. Quoc Hung reports.

The year 2017 marked the 20-year development history of Binh Duong province, with achievements in various fields, particularly investment attraction. Could you please introduce the most remarkable results in investment attraction?
Binh Duong province is located in the southern key economic zone - the most dynamic development region in the country. The province is situated on arterial traffic routes of the nation and serves as a connecting region of the Central Highlands and the Central Region with Ho Chi Minh City. As a young, dynamic, resilient and potential industrial region, and an appealing destination to domestic and international investors in the past 20 years, Binh Duong province has become a preferred destination for domestic and international investors and contributes significantly to nation’s investment attraction and socioeconomic development.

The annual GDP growth in the 2011 - 2015 period was 13 per cent, equivalent to 8.1 per cent a year. In 2015, per capita GRDP was VND101.2 million. The economic structure of Binh Duong province was shifted towards the right direction.

Foreign direct investment is an important source for economic growth and economic restructuring of the province. So far, Binh Duong has attracted 2,818 projects with a total investment of US$25.36 billion, accounting for 52.7 per cent of the total social investment capital of the province, contributing 69.6 per cent of the total industrial production value, and making up 79.4 per cent of the total export value. More than 59 countries and territories have invested in Binh Duong province, of which Japan led with a total registered capital of US$5,174.4 million, or 20.19 per cent of the total foreign investment, followed by Taiwan with a total registered capital of US$5,163.7 million, or 20.15 per cent of total foreign investment. The third biggest investor is South Korea with US$2,377.3 million, or 9.28 per cent of total foreign investment.

In many recent years, the economy was volatile. Because of fierce competition in investment attraction among localities, how has Binh Duong province achieved the above results?
To achieve above results, Binh Duong province has tried to create a fair, transparent and open investment and business environment for investors, and assured investors of their production and business operations. Their effective operations have helped boost socioeconomic development.

Administrative procedures concerning investment certification and investment project approval in Binh Duong province are simple, clear and transparent. The launch of single-window mechanism at the centralised administrative centre has facilitated enterprises to register investment procedures in Binh Duong.

Binh Duong province does not develop or introduce separate investment incentives and supports, but general regulations of the State. Investment attraction is based on effective planning, particularly the planning and development investment of centralised industrial parks and socioeconomic infrastructure development.

What basic solutions has Binh Duong province taken to attract investment capital in the upcoming time to promote its achievements?
1. Strengthening the leadership of all-tier Party Committees, the management and administration of all-tier governments in increased investment attraction. Creating high consistency in awareness and action among various levels, branches and localities in the task of promoting investment for development; facilitating enterprises to develop production and business and contribute to local socioeconomic development.

2. Building and completing investment attraction mechanisms and policies. Researching, building and concretising the province’s policies and mechanisms on non-State budget mobilisation (PPP, socialisation, etc.) for the construction of essential technical and social infrastructure, particularly transport, water supply, housing, service and urban infrastructure; reviewing, building and specifying regulations and processes for implementation of mechanisms and policies on investment encouragement and incentives according to the law, making the list of industries and fields in need of investment capital in the 2016-2020 period in order to create conditions for domestic and foreign investors to do business in in the province; facilitating licensed projects to be deployed rapidly and smoothly.

3. Focusing on investment and improvement of necessary technical infrastructure for investment attraction. Raising resources from all economic sectors, investing and developing modern synchronous economic and social infrastructure, especially motivational works; integrating and exploiting advantages from social and economic infrastructure systems of the southern key zone; investing to build, upgrade, expand and restore traffic infrastructure systems to enhance the capacity of transport systems and facilitate industrial development and investment attraction.

4. Further accelerating administrative procedure reform. Taking public administration reform as a breakthrough measure to improve the investment environment; enhancing local competitiveness; reviewing, simplifying, and formalising administrative records in business establishment procedures and investment project implementation to shorten the duration of starting a business, registering a business and registering investment; supporting small and medium enterprises; abolishing unnecessary procedures inconsistent with the Law on Investment and the Law on Enterprises; further strengthening, perfecting and implementing the single-window mechanism in business registration and settlement of investment and businesses procedures; ensuring publicity and transparency of mechanisms, policies, processes and administrative procedures concerning investment and business establishment.

5. Improving the quality of human resources. Improving the quality of human resources, especially executives, scientists, technical personnel and factory workers to meet the province’s development requirements in the new period; diversifying and expanding cooperation forms in supplying and training human resources by matching the capacity of training establishments and the demands of businesses.

6. Developing State, school and enterprise cooperation models. Researching advanced technological application from countries to develop such areas as administrative reform, urban planning, transportation, supply chain, environmental management, energy, public safety, public health, education and training, scientific research, entrepreneurship to build the smart city of Binh Duong in the future.

Could you please tell us the major investment attraction orientations of Binh Duong province in the coming years? What industries and projects will the province focus on to make development breakthroughs?
Binh Duong province will advocate raising the quality, efficiency and competitiveness of businesses and developing industry, service and urban areas. Accordingly, the province will create favourable conditions for local enterprises to invest in modern synchronous infrastructure development. In the coming time, the province will restrict outsourcing projects using imported materials, energy-consuming projects, resource-consuming projects and environment-polluting projects.

Meanwhile, Binh Duong province will focus on attracting big projects with highly competitive products engaged in global value chains of multilateral corporations, encourage industrial projects from offshore outsourcing to manufacturing; select large well-reputed investors to develop financial markets; and attract supporting industrial projects suitable for local economic development.

Binh Duong will also encourage hi-tech investment projects and affordable social housing projects; and build public utilities projects (housing, hospital, school, cultural and sports) for workers.

The province will also focus on creating favourable conditions for the development of essential services for economic development as such finance, banking, insurance, logistics and legal advice; and calling high-class service and trade projects such as hotel, trade centre, supermarket and exhibition area. The locality will invest, exploit and promote tourism potential and products with strong advantages; strengthen cooperation with neighbouring areas to develop cultural tourism and ecological tourism; and development of protective forests.

The province will also maintain and develop established hi-tech agricultural zones, plan new areas for hi-tech agricultural products, establish hi-tech agricultural, forestry projects and production supporting projects for northern districts.

Duy Anh