Border Gate Economy: Driving Force for An Giang Province to Take Off

An Giang province has considered the development of border gate economy as a main task and expected the border gate economy will become a breakthrough in the province’s socio-economic development in future.

Le Huu Trang, Vice Head of the province’s Management Board of border gate economic zones said the An Giang border gate economic zone, set up and run under the Prime Minister’s decision, has total area of 265.83 square kilometres, including three main areas: the Vinh Xuong border gate with 99.16 square metres, the Khanh Binh border gate with 74.12 square kilometres and the Tinh Bien border gate with 92.55 square kilometres.   

 

Based on the advantage of border province, the An Giang party committee has given instructions on investment in the border gate economy, in which considering the number one task to invest in the border gate in order to create a breakthrough for the province’s socio-economic development between 2006 and 2010. Under the instruction, because of the financial limit, An Giang province focused on the development of Tinh Bien border gate firstly. Over the past year, with the instruction of the provincial party committee and people’s committee, the Tinh Bien trade area and Xuan To industrial zone have been completed and put into operation, significantly contributing to the province’s socio-economic development.        

 

Initially, the Management Board of border gate economic zone has built and put into operation the Tinh Bien trade area on an area of ten hectares. So far 47 businesses have registered with a total capital of about VND360 billion. Of the total, as many as 27 enterprises have started operating. The Xuan To industrial zone with an area of 57 hectares has to date attracted three investment projects, totalling VND116 billion. In addition, the Vinh Xuong trade and service area with an area of 21 hectares is calling for investment.     

Besides the development of border gate trade, services such as restaurants, guest-house, loading and transporting of goods in the Tinh Bien border gate have developed, creating jobs for local residents and contributing to improve the people’s life. With advantages of the international border gates of Vinh Xuong and Tinh Bien and the national border gate of Khanh Binh, the province’s border gate economic area has contributed to boost the development of cross-border trade activities. The export-import turnover between Vietnam and Cambodia through the border gates in An Giang province has increased quickly from US$600 million in 2006 to US$730 million in 2007 and US$929 million last year. The figure is expected to reach US$1.17 billion this year, accounting for about 60 percent-70 percent of total two-way trade.    

Under the country’s development strategy of border gate economic zones by 2020, the government has instructed that the task of border gate economic zones bordering Cambodia is to create the cooperation among regional nations, particularly with provinces lying on the economic corridor like An Giang. To fulfil the government’s targets, An Giang province has been building many important functional areas in border gate economic zones, for examples in the Tinh Bien trade area and Xuan To industrial zone. The border gate economic management board has work on the construction of Vinh Xuong resettlement area to facilitate the construction and operation of Vinh Xuong commercial and service area as well as call on more enterprises to invest into other important works and functional areas such as services, trade centre, residential area in three areas of Tinh Bien, Vinh Xuong and Khanh Binh. The functional areas will boost commercial activities in the border gate economic zone, creating the connection between Vietnam and other sub Mekong countries.         

 

Along with the province authority, the government will also extract both central and local budget sources to build and complete infrastructures of functional areas (including roads, electricity, water and telecommunication systems), encourage and call on enterprises to attend the construction and production projects. The government has also given priorities to enterprises investing in tax-free areas, high-tech areas in the border gate economic areas.  

 

Trang unveiled in the coming time, the government will plan to invest many important transport works in order to boost the development of border gate economic area, including the highway 91 from Chau Doc to the Tinh Bien border gate, the Long Binh bridge in An Phu district linking Vietnam and Cambodia, the Tan An bridge in Tan Chau district and roads and bridges to the border lines of 956, 952. Currently, the provincial management board of border gate economic zones is adjusting the master planning of the border gate economic zone on par with its status of national key economic zone to submit to the Prime Minister for approval soon.