Bac Giang Improving Investment Attraction, Enhancing Competitiveness

In a bid to shape a truly open, transparent, attractive business environment, improve the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI), create a magnet for investment flows, develop businesses and make socioeconomic development breakthroughs, the Department of Planning and Investment advised the Provincial People’s Committee to issue the Bac Giang Advanced PCI Action Plan to 2020. Vietnam Business Magazine Forum has an interview with Mr. Trinh Huu Thang, Director of the Bac Giang Department of Planning and Investment, on this issue. Ha Thanh reports.

To turn Bac Giang into an industrial province by 2020, the province made efforts to improve the business and investment environment and achieved impressive FDI results in the first seven months of 2019. Could you please tell us more about these remarkable achievements?

With its efforts and determination for better investment environment, Bac Giang province obtained notable results, especially in foreign direct investment (FDI) attraction in the first months of 2019. Thus, from January to July, Bac Giang was among the biggest FDI recipients in the country (ranked 7th in new projects and 9th in value).

By the end of July 2019, the province had 1,591 investment projects, including 1,177 domestic projects with VND81,520 billion and 414 FDI projects with US$4,901 million.

Also in the seven-month period, Bac Giang granted registration certificates to 811 enterprises and 49 branches and representative offices, which registered to invest a total of nearly VND7,000 billion, including roughly VND1,700 billion from 37 FDI enterprises.

Typical FDI projects included a US$150 million lens project invested by Lens Vietnam Technology Co., Ltd, a US$100 million Seojin Vietnam factory, and a US$109 million revised project invested by New Wing Interconnect Technology Co., Ltd.

Could you please describe specific measures to draw more investment funds in the last six months of 2019 and in 2020?

To lure more investment funds, Bac Giang province will effectively carry out assigned tasks specified in Resolution 73-NQ/TU dated May 6, 2016 of the Executive Board of the Provincial Party Committee and Plan 128/KH-UBND dated June 30, 2016 of the Provincial People’s Committee to ameliorate the local investment and business environment. The province will continue to invest in infrastructure construction for investment projects (transport infrastructure, infrastructure in industrial zones and social infrastructure around industrial zones), further reform administrative procedures and raise PCI.

Besides, the province will actively support investors and enterprises to deal with their difficulties and obstacles in investment and business; accelerate the progress of approved investment projects; study and complete mechanisms and policies on investment attraction; and strengthen State management for local investment projects.

Could you tell us more about the regions and fields where the province has drawn investment capital?

With good geographical location, soil and climate, Bac Giang province divides its territory into three important economic zones to draw investment flows.

Driving territory, lying along National Highway 1 and Bac Giang City, will attract industrial and service development projects, including industrial parks (Quang Chau, Song Khe - Noi Hoang, Viet Han, S&G and Yen Lu), small-scale industrial complexes (Hoang Mai, Tien Hung, Tang Tien, Viet Tien and others), logistics centers, entertainment facilities, trade centers, hotels, banking and financial institutions.

Western region: The center is Hiep Hoa district. Lying adjacent to Bac Ninh and Thai Nguyen provinces, this region will focus on enticing foreign investors into mechanics, electricity, electronics and supporting projects, especially vendors for Samsung Group into industrial parks (Chau Minh - Mai Dinh, Xuan Cam - Huong Lam and Hoa Yen), agricultural, forestry and industrial processing projects into industrial complexes (Hop Thinh, Doan Bai - Luong Phong and Viet Nhat), and garment and textile projects into Ha Thinh Industrial Complex.

Northeast region, including Luc Nam, Luc Ngan and Son Dong districts, is centered around Luc Ngan district. This region features advantages in ​​agricultural and forest land and ecological and spiritual tourism sites. This region focuses on attracting investment projects for agricultural, husbandry and mining development, especially tourism projects to create tourism value chains (Khuon Than Lake, Dong Cao Plateau and Cam Son Lake), labor-intensive projects to create jobs and facilitate economic restructuring.

To grow fruit trees, forest trees and medicinal plants, the province will attract investment projects that process agricultural and forest products into industrial complexes, establish new industrial complexes (Cau Dat and My An in Luc Ngan district, An Lap and Yen Dinh in Son Dong district, and carry out wind power projects in Son Dong and Luc Nam districts.

Based on the PCI performance in 2018, the Department of Planning and Investment advised the Provincial People’s Committee to issue the Bac Giang Advanced PCI Action Plan to 2020. What is the action plan focused on?

Immediately after the release on PCI 2018 by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), on June 6, 2019, Chairman of the Bac Giang Provincial People’s Committee chaired a meeting with the Department of Planning and Investment to hear the report and assess its PCI performance in 2018 and present action plans for the following years. Accordingly, the Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee gave specific directions to relevant branches and levels of authority in the province:

First, the Department of Planning and Investment studies specific contents and advices relevant agencies on implementation; relevant branches and localities are responsible for elaborating detailed action plans to assign specific tasks to each subordinate unit, clearly state their tasks and solutions to raise each index and assign responsibility to unit leaders. Thereby, the department advised the Provincial People’s Committee to issue the Bac Giang Advanced PCI Action Plan to 2020.

The department coordinates with districts and cities to publicize the plan on mass media and areas with commercial advantages to launch tenders to woo investors in the province as per the Government’s Decree 30/2015/ND-CP.

Second, the province brings industrial projects into industrial zones under the Prime Minister’s Directive 07/CT-TTg dated March 2, 2012 except for investment projects in mountainous districts (Son Dong, Luc Ngan, Yen The and mountainous communes of Luc Nam district), agricultural, forest and aquatic product processing projects, and construction material production projects.

Third, the province asks relevant departments and agencies to review personnel responsible for investment, construction and land fields to have suitable training plans for them; educate public employees to work harder, improve working ethics, create a cross supervisory mechanism and build a staff rotation mechanism for people working in these fields according to Article 36, Decree 59/2019/ND-CP dated July 1, 2019 of the Government, detailing a number of articles and measures on enforcement of the Anticorruption Law.

Fourth, the province pays attention to vocational training to raise professional skills for workers. Relevant departments, branches and localities focus on speeding up land clearance progress and support investors to carry out social housing projects for workers in industrial zones.

Fifth, Bac Giang improves the disclosure of sector plans, projects, budget data and policies, especially land and construction plans on websites and electronic information portals. The Office of the Provincial People’s Committee advised the Editorial Board of the Provincial Information Portal to direct agencies to implement information disclosure regulations and create business information columns.

Sixth, the Bac Giang Business Association communicates with and educates local businesses and entrepreneurs to have objective views on the local business and investment environment; encourages enterprises to raise opinions on PCI to have at least 50% of business feedback sent to VCCI in its business polls. The association will work with the Department of Home Affairs and relevant agencies to advise the Provincial People’s Committee to establish the “Bac Giang Foreign Business Association” subordinated to the Bac Giang Business Association.

Thank you very much!