Nghe An Boosting Investment Attraction, Creating Growth Driver

10:17:29 AM | 2/7/2015

In 2014, Nghe An granted and revised investment certificates to 187 projects with total registered capital of VND55,663 billion (US$2.5 billion), including 145 newly licensed projects with a total registered capital of VND43,892 billion. To date, the province has 776 investment projects in operation, including 733 domestic investment projects with VND164,937 billion and 43 FDI projects with over US$1.6 billion. Big projects consist of TH-Truemilk, Saigon - Song Lam Beer, Hanoi - Nghe An Beer, Ban Ve hydropower plant, Hua Na hydropower plant, MDF wood board plant, garment and textile plants, electronic component assembly plants invested by South Korean and Japanese investors. In 2015, Nghe An targets to attract at least 100 projects with aggregate registered capital of VND10,000-20,000 billion, and create new jobs for 10,000-12,000 people.

To learn more about current investment results and plans to realise future targets of Nghe An province, Vietnam Business Forum interviewed Mr Nguyen Xuan Duong, Chairman of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee. Duy Anh reports.

In the past years, Nghe An province has carried out many external relations and investment promotion programmes and plans to increase more investment capital, particularly projects from Japan, South Korea and Singapore. How has investment attraction result in the first six months of 2015 been?

In the first six months of 2015, external relations and investment promotion continued to be strengthened. The province contacted embassies and NGOs in Hanoi, organised “Locality - Diplomatic Mission Meeting 2015" in Nghe An (May 28-31, 2015), worked with the Vietnam National Coal, Mineral Industries Holding Corporation Limited (Vinacomin) on the progress of Quynh Lap 1 thermal power plant, worked with leaders of Binh Duong province on investment cooperation in VSIP - Nghe An Industrial Park (VSIP 6), worked with the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) on capital arrangement for some projects, met with investors seeking and surveying investment opportunities in Nghe An like FDI Corporation looking to invest in the Quynh Lap 2 hydropower plant and Vingroup Group surveying investment opportunities in Dao Ngu area, Cua Lo Town.

The province licensed 87 projects with VND27,363.51 billion in the year as of June 10, 2015, including 68 new projects with VND26,922.60 billion and 19 revised projects with VND440.91 billion.

Could you tell us Nghe An province’s investment attraction orientation in general and investment capital from Japanese companies in particular?

The province will continue to focus on attracting traditional investors like Japanese and South Koreans, while accessing potential investors in Singapore, Thailand, the Middle East and Europe. Nghe An will step up twinned relations with foreign provinces like Shizuoka Prefecture (Japan), Gyeonggi (South Korea) and Ulianop (Russia). The province will also strengthen relations with major donors like the World Bank (WB), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the German Reconstruction Bank (KfW), Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), and the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO). In the future, Nghe An emphases and encourages potential, driving projects to create development momentum for the province like industrial - urban - service zone invested by VSIP / BECAMEX Binh Duong in Dong Nam Economic Zone, Pier 5 and Pier 6 at Cua Lo Port, Dong Hoi Port, port-entry road invested by Thanh Thanh Dat Company Limited, VICEM Port, Cua Lo Deepwater Port, and infrastructure development in Tho Loc, Dong Hoi, Hoang Mai 2 and Nghia Dan industrial parks.

The province will draw investment capital for export-driven production, especially products and goods benefiting from the TPP Agreement, consumer goods; high-tech and clean industries; and supporting industries: electronic equipment and components, information and communication technology equipment, and automation equipment. The province will also attract investment capital into mechanical engineering: metallurgy, electronic circuit board assembly, automobile and motorcycle assembly, automotive and motorcycle parts, garment and textile, and high-tech products. The province will also lure investment capital into processing industries fed by local agricultural, forest and aquatic products; beverage industries (beer, soft drinks, etc); production of medical equipment, medicines, pharmaceuticals, veterinary drugs, and plant protection drugs; construction material production: cement, cement-based building materials, artificial stone, white stone and tiled stone.

Besides, the province will attract investors to build well-branded trade centres and supermarkets; and give priority to investors with nationwide and worldwide business networks. Nghe An will also encourage investors to invest in financial, banking and insurance services; logistics and warehousing services; ecotourism parks, resorts, luxury hotels (5-star); advanced entertainment zones; ecological restaurant systems. Agriculture and mining development investment in the west of Nghe An province are also encouraged.

Would you talk about the specific tasks and measures Nghe An province will take to improve the business environment and create favourable conditions for investors in general, and Japanese investors in particular, when they come to find investment and cooperation opportunities?

Firstly, Nghe An is committed to improving the investment climate, supporting the business community and creating the most favourable conditions for investors and enterprises to do sustainable and effective business in the province. To further provide favourable conditions for investors in general and Japanese investors in particular, Nghe An has outlined specific tasks and solutions as follows:

The provincial government will consolidate guidance and mobilisation of the forces of the whole political system to drastically improve the investment climate, particularly instituting effective administrative reform. To do so, the province will build a strong force of highly skilled professional investment attraction staff to sow the sense of confidence and trust of investors; enhance awareness of civil servants at all levels, particularly those relating to investment and business environment improvement and provincial competitiveness index (PCI). The province will also set up a direct hotline to the Chairperson and the Vice Chairpersons of the Provincial People's Committee to support investors in case of necessity.

The province will review and adjust its socioeconomic development plan to 2020, with a vision to 2030. Vinh City will be developed into a nucleus of investment attraction for socioeconomic development.

The province will carry out State management tasks and contents on investment promotion activities in accordance with Decision 03/2014/QD-TTg dated January 14, 2014 of the Prime Minister; monitor, mobilise and support important partners and large-scale projects of leading corporations like Hoa Sen Group, Becamex Binh Duong, Nguyen Kim, Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex), Lotte E&C (South Korea), Samsung, Thai Binh Duong Group, Japanese and South Korean investors. The province will consider and introduce effective policies to contact partners and investors in the EU, the US, Japan, South Korea and Singapore; integrate provincial investment promotion activities with national investment promotion programmes.

The province will focus on building essential infrastructure to serve new investment projects like Cua Lo Port, Dong Hoi Port, Vinh Airport, Hoang Mai - Thai Hoa Road and essential infrastructure in economic zones, industrial parks and industrial clusters.

Nghe An province will increase support for investors like site clearance, manpower supply and training, technological research and transfer, and administrative procedure settlement. Particularly, local schools will guage market demand to design their training plans.

The province will also strengthen State management over project land, construction and environmental protection. Nghe An will also ensure absolute security and order for investment projects.

The Party and the people of Nghe An province are resolute, unanimous and devoted to promote internal resources and attract external forces to successfully carry out the Resolution 26 of the Politburo on Nghe An orientation and development tasks.