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Bridge link for new investment
The new Rach Mieu Bridge across Tien River has increased investment opportunities for the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre, provincial authorities say.
The bridge has sparked renewed interest in the province from both domestic and foreign investors, says the province’s Department of Planning and Investment.
The management board of Ben Tre’s industrial parks has said local IPs in January attracted three new investment projects – a plant processing cononut-based products invested by RDC company with a capital of VND43 billion (US$2.4 million); a $2.5 million seafood export processing plant by Le Anh company; and a pharmaceutical production unit by Khang Minh joint stock pharmaceutical company capitalised at $1.7 million.
The Ben Tre Department of Planning and Investment says ten domestic and foreign business delegations have visited Ben Tre seeking investment opportunities after the Rach Mieu Bridge opened to the traffic on January 19.
The bridge links Ben Tre with its neighbouring Tien Giang Province.
A Korean investor is exploring opportunities to invest in building a toy factory for export, a French company plans to build an activated carbon plant, and a Chinese investor is interested in producing items made with coconut fibre.
HCM City investors, for their part, have evinced keen interest in seafood processing, development of residential areas, tourist resorts and hospitals.
The Ben Tre’s Investment Promotion Centre had earlier held a seminar on investment opportunities in the province that drwe he participation of 83 domestic and foreign investors. The seminar was successful in initiating four investment projects with a total capital of VND382.4 billion ($21.8 million).
Nguyen Truc Son, director of Ben Tre’s Investment Promotion Centre said the Rach Mieu Bridge helped local businesses realise their long cherished dream to bring container trucks to their factories.
However, Son said the local authorities needed to focus on improving its planning and land clearance processes; the qualifications of its workforce; and the provison of vital infrastructure like power and water supply in order to lure more investors.
Blessed with coconut farms covering 46,000 hectares, cacao farms over 4,000 hectares and the country’s biggest beaches of clams covering 15,000 hectares with an annual output of 30,000 tonnes, Ben Tre is well poised to utilise further investment for economic.
Provincial authorities are upgrading 69 vocational training centres to increase the rate of trained workers to 36 per cent by the end of this year. It also plans to issue preferential policies to attract highly skilled staff to return home and work to develop their native land.
The 5.2km Rach Mieu Bridge connects the coconut rich province of Ben Tre to neighbouring areas in the Mekong Delta, and is expected to create favourable conditions for the province to further promote investment, trade and tourism.
VietNamNet/Viet Nam News
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