Accompanying FDI Firms on Development Path

The Prime Minister has approved the operation of 16 centralised industrial parks with a total area of 6,397.68 ha in Bac Ninh province. These industrial parks have attracted large-scale high-tech projects from world-leading foreign corporations. Vietnam Business Forum has an interview with Mr Bui Hoang Mai, Director of the Bac Ninh Industrial Parks Authority, on this issue. Tran Trang reports.

How do you assess the performance of industrial parks and foreign tenants in Bac Ninh province in recent years?
It can be said that industrial parks in general and foreign direct investment (FDI) enterprises in Bac Ninh province have reaped important achievements and made significant contributions to local socioeconomic development. And, these achievements can be summarised into six aspects as follows:

First, industrial parks have created high added value and facilitated modernised economic restructuring. Tenants in industrial parks generated over VND500 trillion (US$22.2 billion) of industrial production a year since 2015, accounting for over 75 per cent of the province’s industrial production value.

Second, industrial parks have importantly boosted the export value, helping the province to take a trade surplus. Export and import values of FDI enterprises in industrial parks accounted for over 95 per cent of the province’s entire values in recent years. The export value was estimated at US$25 billion and the import value was projected at US$18 billion a year.

Third, industrial parks have played an important role in creating jobs, training human resources and raising labourers' incomes. They have generated 266,540 jobs, including 247,887 from FDI firms or 93 per cent of the total.

Fourth, industrial parks have helped increase local budget incomes and usually made up over 50 per cent of the provincial budget. In 2016 alone, they paid VND7,414 billion, accounting for 51.3 per cent of the provincial budget.

Fifth, the development of industrial parks has accelerated the pace of liberalisation, created equal development from region to region in the province; and helped improve social infrastructure and protect the ecological environment.

How has Bac Ninh Industrial Parks Authority performed so successfully its role of advising the Provincial People’s Committee on developing Bac Ninh province into one of the leading developers of industrial parks in the north?
One of major successes of Bac Ninh province-based industrial parks is that the planning is always one step ahead. By doing so, investors will have ready land and infrastructure for project deployment.

Being one of the smallest provinces in the country, the available land fund is not abundant. Hence, the province has selectively picked projects that match its criteria. Since from the beginning, Bac Ninh industrial parks clearly define target industries to be attracted: electronics, telecommunication, highly value-added projects and clean industries.

The Bac Ninh Industrial Parks Authority advises the Provincial People’s Committee to effectively build modern and synchronous infrastructure for industrial parks as per approved plans. This is the foundation for making initial commitments to investors. The synchronous construction of industrial park infrastructure together with social infrastructure will ensure security and order, essential needs of workers as well as stable operations of tenants. At the same time, this will also help minimise impacts on surrounding living environments. These altogether build up the confidence of investors in local industrial parks.

What are the message and the commitment of the Bac Ninh Industrial Parks Authority to foreign investors who have the intention of investing in Bac Ninh province-based industrial parks?
The Bac Ninh Provincial People's Committee committed to the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) to creating a favourable business environment for enterprises in a bid to realise the Government's Resolution 35/NQ-CP on business support and development to 2020. This can be seen as a practical action of the province to further improve the quality of investment climate.

Bac Ninh province with its convenient geographic position is gradually building a dynamic and effective administration; actively improving the investment environment, accelerating the administrative procedure reform and facilitating enterprises to invest in production and business. We hope to receive more projects from other countries in the world and we are committed to providing the most favourable conditions, siding and sharing with investors. We always see the hardship against a business is our own, and their success is ours as well.