Creating Open Business Environment, Raising Investor Confidence

To attract necessary resources to realize the Hau Giang Provincial Plan for 2021-2030, with vision to 2050, Hau Giang province has stepped up investment promotion, with particular focus on removing bottlenecks in the investment and business environment and creating favorable conditions for business development. 
Mr. Nguyen Dang Hai, Director of the Department of Planning and Investment of Hau Giang province, grants an exclusive interview on this issue to our reporters.

Hau Giang is endeavoring to carry out many solutions and actions to accelerate public investment disbursement. How has the Department of Planning and Investment helped speed up these efforts?

In the past years, Hau Giang province made efforts to boost public investment and achieved positive results. In 2022, the disbursed public investment amounted to VND3,600 billion, equal to 95% of the target. In 2023, it reached 97% of the plan, higher than the national average. In 2024, the province allocated more than VND6,651 billion from the State budget and carried over VND247 billion from 2023.

To accelerate public investment disbursement, from the beginning of 2024, the Provincial People's Committee directed relevant agencies, localities and investors to quicken project progress. Specifically, for projects transferred from 2023, investors urged contractors to promptly complete project items, execute procedures and accept completed project volume to get the fund. For new projects started in 2024, investors requested contractors to carry out regulatory investment procedures and ensure the investment disbursement time and project progress.

In 2024, the province prioritized important infrastructure investments to drive industrial and logistics development in Chau Thanh and Chau Thanh A districts. Projects focused on the two economic corridors along the Chau Doc–Can Tho–Soc Trang Expressway and the Can Tho–Ca Mau Expressway, as well as infrastructure for healthcare, education, culture, sports, and social security. Additionally, urban technical infrastructure enhancements were implemented across four key socioeconomic regions to attract investors and ensure a balanced, efficient investment framework. The province prioritized irrigation, dikes, and water infrastructure to support socioeconomic development. With strong political commitment and construction efforts, over 95% of public investment funds were estimated to be disbursed by January 31, 2025.

Could you tell us about the province's achievements in investment promotion and attraction since 2023 and forecast investment demands in the coming years?

In 2024, Hau Giang province licensed five new investment projects, including an FDI project with US$150,000 (totaling 26 FDI projects to date) and four domestic direct investment (DDI) projects with VND1,060 billion, while revoking 11 investment policies with VND319 billion of registered capital (totaling 72 revoked projects with VND3,625 billion). Thus, by the end of 2024, the province had 321 investment projects with VND184,733 billion of registered capital, including 256 projects (VND35,538 billion) outside industrial zones and 62 projects (VND148,906 billion) in industrial zones and three projects (VND290 billion) in High-tech Agricultural Park.

Granting investment certificates at the conference on the announcement of Hau Giang Province's Master Plan, March 2024

According to the Provincial Planning for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050, Hau Giang province has focused on developing industry into a strong key economic sector and forming modern, large-scale industrial zones and clusters with synchronous infrastructure to woo investors in the following sectors: High-tech industry, processing and manufacturing industry, energy industry, supporting industry, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, agricultural processing and logistics, aiming to become a fairly developed industrial province in the Mekong Delta by 2030 and a fairly developed province in the country and an industrial production and logistics center in the Mekong Delta by 2050.

Accordingly, the estimated investment demand was VND112,500 billion in 2021-2025, of which public investment capital was VND36,240 billion (accounting for 32.2%), non-public investment capital was VND75,010 billion (66.7%) and FDI fund was VND1,250 billion (1.1%). The value in 2026-2030 was forecast at VND217,500 billion, of which public investment capital will account for VND37,200 billion (17.1%), non-public investment capital will make up for VND177,750 billion (81.7%) and the FDI fund will be VND2,550 billion (1.2%).

In the past, Hau Giang has focused on attracting investment in four pillars: Industry, agriculture, urbanization and tourism, aiming at rapid, sustainable, comprehensive and inclusive development as stated in the approved Provincial Plan. Could you briefly introduce some outstanding results?

Following closely the economic development strategy, the province has promoted and attracted investment capital into four pillars, namely industry, agriculture, urbanization and tourism.

Regarding tourism, the province worked with and received many strategic investors to research, survey and approach large investment projects.

With respect to industrial zone infrastructure, on October 3, 2024, the Ministry of Planning and Investment reported to the Prime Minister on the investment policy of Song Hau 2 Industrial Park (Infrastructure Investment and Operation Project in Mai Dam town and Phu Huu commune (Chau Thanh district) as requested by Kinh Bac City Holding Corporation. Scheduled to be carried out from July 2024 to June 2027 with a total investment fund of VND5,570 billion, the project will attract US$600-800 million of investment capital, generate 19,000 jobs and pay VND594 billion a year to the local budget.

From July 15, 2024, the Provincial People's Committee also sent an official dispatch to the Ministry of Planning and Investment regarding the technical infrastructure construction and operation investment project of Dong Phu 2 Industrial Park on 234 ha in Dong Phu commune (Chau Thanh district). Invested more than VND 3,997 billion by Dong Phu Industrial Park Joint Stock Company (its parent company is Shinec Joint Stock Company), the project is designed to be an ecological industrial park.

In the agricultural sector, on October 9, 2024, the Provincial People's Committee worked with An Giang Food and Vegetables Joint Stock Company (Antesco) on an investment project in an exported high-tech fruit and vegetable processing factory with a yearly capacity of 50,000 tons of final products and a warehouse system. The company also planned to develop fruit and vegetable growing areas in Hau Giang and neighboring areas.

 Hau Giang Biomass Power Plant, the largest of its kind in the Mekong Delta, successfully integrates its first unit into the national grid

To achieve the above results, how has Hau Giang endeavored to improve the investment and business environment and enhance competitiveness?

In recent years, Hau Giang has made many efforts to improve the investment and business environment and achieved some positive results, which were clearly demonstrated with all-advancing PCI, SIPAS and PGI indices that influenced Hau Giang's investment attraction. Companies in Hau Giang highly appreciate the province's preferential policies on exemption and reduction of corporate income tax, import duties on machinery and equipment used to create fixed assets, land rent, water surface rent, land-use conversion fee and telecom fees. In particular, with its effective approach (quick site clearance, quick investment procedures, good opportunities, good policies and good infrastructure), Hau Giang province has successfully carried out investment attraction mechanisms and policies and strengthened administrative procedure reforms. Provincial and local authorities always accompany and promptly remove difficulties for enterprises, especially during government-business dialogues, talk shows and meetings where authorities can grasp investors' wishes. Hau Giang has also actively advised provincial leaders to organize delegations to promote and attract domestic and foreign investment and boost the image of Hau Giang province to investors. With many consistent solutions and tasks, we have built trust for the business community in studying investment opportunities and carrying out their investment projects in the province.

Thank you so much!

By Song Uyen, Vietnam Business Forum