Dong Nai: Comprehensive Development and a Gateway for Southeastern Economic Region

In the past years, despite multiple difficulties, thanks to the guidance and management of its leaders, plus efforts of relevant departments, enterprises and people, Dong Nai’s economic development has remained very stable. In the first 6 months of 2014, GDP of Dong Nai is estimated at VND24 trillion, equal to 42.1 percent of the plan, up 10.8 percent compared to the same period of 2013. Industry-construction earned VND15 trillion, equal to 41 percent of the plan, up 11 percent compared with the same period of 2013; service earned VND7,300 billion, equal to 48 percent of the plan and up 11.6 percent compared to last year; agriculture-forestry-aquaculture reached VND1,300 billion, equal to 30.3 percent of the plan and up 3.3 percent compared to last year.

 

In terms of finance, total budget is estimated at VND16,600 billion in the first 6 months of 2014, equal to 47 percent as planned, an increase of 18 percent compared to the same period of 2013. Export quota is estimated at US$6 billion, equal to 50.8 percent of the plan and up 15.8 percent compared to the same period of last year. Local and foreign investment attraction is higher than last year, particularly foreign investment attraction reached 96.3 percent of the plan. In the first 6 months, 20 new projects started operation and 29 investment expansion projects started production.

 

The outstanding results are achieved thank to stable export orders and special attention and support from Dong Nai province. Dong Nai frequently organises meetings with enterprises to give timely guidance, removing difficulties for companies. Particularly, the province offers timely guidance and support policies for foreign invested companies that suffered serious damages illegally caused by extremists on 13 and 14 May 2014.

 

However, there are still some limits in the process of economic development. The real estate sector still faces many difficulties, export prices of some commodities has fallen, especially agricultural products; the price of raw material for animal feed production and of other materials highly increased and unsynchronized infrastructure structure.

 

Therefore, to maintain its growth speed in the coming time, Dong Nai will mobilise all resources to strengthen implementation of scheme of economic restructure attached with transformation of growth pattern; implementing synchronously and effectively solutions of removing difficulties for enterprises; carrying out effectively main missions and solutions; improving business environment; enhancing national competitiveness ability.

 

In the first 6 months of 2014, investment attraction in Dong Nai is very positive. The province has lured VND6 trillion of local investment projects, an increase of 50 percent compared to the same period of last year, equal to 86 percent of this year’s plan. There are now 578 (579 as adjusted till June 30, 2014) local projects with cumulative committed capital of VND157 billion (VND157, 611 billion as adjusted) of which 556 projects are still valid (555 as adjusted) with total capital of VND131,282 billion (VND130,800 billion as adjusted); 22 projects had their investment certificates withdrawn (24 as adjusted) with total capital of VND25,248 billion (VND26,811 as adjusted).

 

In terms of FDI attraction, total newly registered capital and capital increased projects stayed at US$770 million, equal to 96, 3 percent of the year’s plan, up 28.3 percent compared with the same period of 2013 (US$826 million as adjusted, an increase of 37.7 percent compared with last year). Disbursement rate of the first 6 months reached US$560 million, equal to 112 percent compared with last year and 56 percent compared with the year’s plan. As of June 15, 2014, there are 1,433 FDI projects valued at US$25.2 billion in Dong Nai of which 1,115 projects are still valid with total capital of US$20.8 billion (1,112 projects as adjusted) and 318 projects had their investment certificates withdrawn (312 as adjusted).

 

The achieved results are thanks to investment promotion programmes carried out in previous years; there are more and more foreign investors from Japan, Korea, Taiwan coming to Dong Nai to seek investment opportunities. In the first 6 months of 2014, there are 300 foreign investors coming and working with Dong Nai People’s Committee, Department of Planning and Investment, Management Board of Industrial Parks. In June 2014, Dong Nai organised a trade and investment promotion programme in Dubai to call for investment in field of real estate as well as to seek new export market, the province has established a representative office of Dofico in Dubai.

 

In the coming time, to strengthen trade and investment promotion and to improve the investment environment, Dong Nai will check its planning of industrial clusters, to identify difficulties in carrying out industrial clusters’ infrastructure, to support investment procedures in 10 industrial clusters to attract investment in districts and to remove factories or establishments which cause environment pollution.

 

Investment projects in Dong Nai will be chosen in the direction of giving priorities to hi-tech development, support industries, high added value and environmentally friendly projects, reducing labour intensive projects. In addition, Dong Nai will strengthen its agriculture encouragement activities in rural areas, completing its planning on hi-tech urban area to attract investment.

 

It is Dong Nai’s policy not to attract investment by issuing own incentives, rather, the province focuses on creating a transparent and healthy business environment, enhancing administrative procedures and business support activities with a motto “authorities accompany enterprises”. At the same time, Dong Nai will focus on investing a synchronous traffic network and technical infrastructure to serve production and daily living. The province will complete necessary infrastructure to attract investment and to push up the disbursement rate of investment, creating jobs and making larger contribution to the Province’s budget to fund social infrastructure projects, increasing living standard for local people and solving social security.

 

Social and defence security is considered as an important factor pushing up a comprehensive economic development of Dong Nai. In the past time, the province always paid special attention to social security. In the first 6 months of 214, Dong Nai had trained 30,379 labourers, equal to 48.3 percent of the plan and 94.5 percent compared to the same period of last year, creating jobs for 46,000 local people, equal to 51 percent of the plan and 89 percent compared to 2013. Dong Nai has done a good job in eradicating hunger and reducing poverty, giving loans to 5,118 households, equal to 128 percent of the plan and an increase of 76 percent compared to last year with total amount of VND87.7 billion (equal to 146 percent of the plan and up 34 percent compared to last year).

 

Dong Nai’s goal in the coming time is to reduce unemployment in urban areas to 2 5 percent, creating 90,000 new jobs with a rate of trained labourers of 62 percent, 48 percent of vocational trained labourers and reducing poverty rate down to under 1 percent at the end of 2014.

 

Dong Nai will carry out compulsory education and anti-illiteracy activities, developing key high schools, training foreign language in national education system, investing basic studying and teaching equipment. These will be important steps for Dong Nai to build up high quality workforce in the future and to serve socio-economic development of the locality.

 

In parallel, Dong Nai has a policy to strengthen its measures of preventing hand, foot and mouth disease, acute diarrhoea, dengue fever, malaria, influenza A and other diseases, attracting doctors in some hospitals in communes, doing a good job in medical care for local people, paying attention to food hygiene and safety.

 

Moreover, Dong Nai will pay a special attention to defence and security, ensuring political security and social order, creating stable social environment for investors. The province will uphold achieved results and determination to implement its planned targets, maintaining stable socio-economic development speed and playing an important role in the common development of the region.