Catching New Investment Wave

With its infrastructure upgraded for convenient transportation and many billion-dollar traffic infrastructure projects such as Vam Cong Bridge, My Thuan 2 Bridge, expanded Ho Chi Minh City - Trung Luong Expressway, Trung Luong - My Thuan Expressway and My Thoi Port, An Giang is strongly attracting investors. Without doubt, the province is standing before a ‘golden’ opportunity to catch a new wave of investment.

Breakthroughs in infrastructure development

In recent years, the Mekong Delta has received a lot of attention from the Government, spent resources and focused priority on transport and infrastructure development, especially highways, to promote trade and economic development.

An Giang province and Loc Troi Group sign a cooperation agreement to implement the local rice brand building and hi-tech agricultural development projects in the province

Specifically, in 2021-2025, total budget for infrastructure investment in the Mekong Delta was VND388 trillion, including 1,000 km of roads, more than 15,000 km of sea routes, nearly 60 inland waterway ports and 2 deep-water seaports. In 2025-2030, the Mekong Delta region planned to develop 32 more key traffic projects with a cost of VND95 trillion, 13 inter-regional connection projects costing VND26,731 billion, 7 inter-regional vertical and horizontal highways on a total length of nearly 1,000 km costing VND15 trillion

Anticipating positive signals from the development picture of the Mekong Delta, An Giang introduced strategic steps to bring its economy to the top tier in the Mekong Delta by 2025, increase people's incomes, expand commercial scale, and draw more investors.

The province’s transport infrastructure system is synchronously planned. In 2021-2025, An Giang has concentrated on investing in key transport infrastructure, especially provincial roads and national highways, in order to enhance connectivity and accelerate development of local key economic sectors. When completed, Chau Doc - Can Tho - Soc Trang Expressway will provide access to National Highway 91 and to the beltway of Long Xuyen City, helping quicken circulation of goods from An Giang to Can Tho City - the economic center of the Southwest region and relieve traffic congestions - a nightmare for nearly 20 years. As a result, it will create leverage in economic development and invite investors to the province.

Clearing "bottlenecks" in investment attraction

Knowing that ineffective administrative reform was one of "bottlenecks" in investment attraction and some investment incentives were unattractive to investors, provincial leaders focused on finding solutions to clear those "bottlenecks" to unlock local potential advantage in 2015-2020.

All levels and branches of government drastically implemented many positive solutions on administrative reform and investment attraction policies, particularly carrying out the single-window mechanism in handling administrative procedures and developing online public services, online business registration, and bank account registration for businesses. As a result, its indicators of administrative reform, public governance and administration and competitiveness have looked up year by year.

By 2019, An Giang ranked 11th in the country on the Public Administration Reform Index (PAR Index); 21st on Vietnam Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI); and 21st on the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI).

Utilizing specific advantages

In the upcoming plan, An Giang will attract investment funds for five main areas: (1) High-tech agriculture, (2) industry and industrial zone infrastructure, (3) ecological and leisure tourism, (4) commercial development and urban infrastructure, (5) and traffic infrastructure.

According to its general investment attraction policy, the province will select quality projects that use modern technology, restructure the economy for sustainable development, environmental protection, national defense, social security and employment for local workers. The total social investment fund is expected to reach from VND164.6 trillion to VND176 trillion in 2020 - 2025, an average increase of 7.6% a year.

In investment promotion, the province will raise awareness, mindset and quality of officials and public employees in improving the business investment environment; and effectively carry out objectives, tasks and solutions in the Government’s annual resolutions 02/NQ-CP on main tasks and solutions for better business environment, stronger competitiveness and higher PCI of An Giang province.

An Giang will actively foster digital transformation, digitize administrative activities, promote investment, support manufacturing and business operations, call investment funds for digital business development to create driving forces for digital society development and build a practical, effective and focused digital economy.

The province will intensify strict administration at all stages of construction investment, investment inspection and evaluation; select investment projects as planned to boost the effect of capital use and project investment. For sensitive areas that may relate to national defense and security, FDI flows must meet requirements for national defense, security and sovereignty as top priority.

Administrative commitments

In 2022 and in the 2020-2025 phase, An Giang is standing before huge new development opportunities and challenges in the course of realizing its goal of turning An Giang into a fairly developed province and dynamic and sustainable economy in the Mekong Delta, a center for high-tech agricultural and fishery production, a hub for international trade and cooperation with Cambodia and ASEAN countries; a center of spiritual tourism and ecological tourism of the region.

To realize these goals, it is necessary to have the cooperation and contribution of businesses and investors. As an advisory on planning and investment to the Provincial People's Committee, the Department of Planning and Investment of An Giang province will support enterprises to bolster their manufacturing and business capacity and enhance their competitiveness in their value chains; empower investors and businesses to objectively and independently measure and assess feedback channels, questionnaires and surveys on quality of administrative reform, business climate improvement and administrative confidence at the grassroots level.

Mr. Pham Minh Tam, Director of the Department of Planning and Investment, said, determining that the success of enterprises is also the success of the province, the department affirms its commitments to creating every favorable opportunity and open condition for investors and businesses to achieve success, providing maximum support for them to deal with administrative procedures, especially in business registration, investment licensing and business support.

Source: Vietnam Business Forum