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Incentives for investment in northern province
A two-pronged strategy offering investment incentives and fast-track procedures was outlined yesterday at an investment promotion conference in northern border Lang Son Province.
Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong said the move was an opportunity to make full use of the province’s untapped potential and help the local people escape poverty.
Duong Thoi Giang, the deputy chairman of the Lang Son People’s Committee, said in addition to the investment incentives applied nationwide, investors interested in pouring money into the impoverished province’s economic zones would enjoy a land lease tax as low as 1 per cent of the normal rate.
The management board of Lang Son’s Dong Dang-Lang Son economic zone has been assigned to co-ordinate land negotiations and provide investors with necessary legal documents to speed land clearance and the resettlement of residents.
Trong was hopeful the new promotion package would help Lang Son grow its heavy industries, such as mineral exploration and processing and building materials production, as well as developing tourism.
Giang said the province was financing the training of local corporate managers and workers to work for new investment schemes. The training subsidy per worker varies between VND300,000 (US$18) and VND1.5 million ($80).
The authorities also plan to subsidise investors to advertise in the province’s media outlets. Technology transfer projects considered important to the province’s development will be eligible for a subsidy of VND500 million ($28,000).
Giang said that investors would enjoy simplified business procedures as the province had instigated single-clearance at many of its public offices. The Department of Planning and Investment also began offering investors on-line registration and easier access to information.
Keun-Hyung Park, senior deputy director of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), yesterday said the lack of access to information and increasingly high costs for operations were major difficulties facing foreign investors in Viet Nam.
"Other difficulties include confusing and complicated administrative procedures and a lack of skilled workers," he said.
Kyoshiro Ichikawa, senior investment adviser of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, said Lang Son authorities should carefully analyse the current situation before taking any action to promote foreign investment.
In addition to attracting more investors to investment forums, informational materials such as guide books on the province, data and law books as well as a regularly updated web page were all important to create a new face for the province, said Kyoshiro Ichikawa.
Lang Son, 154 km northeast of Ha Noi, has a population of 750,000 and is home to two international border gates and seven bustling border markets.
But despite its location, which is advantageous for cross-border trade, the province has never been a favourite investment destination, partly because 80 per cent of its land is mountainous, which makes developing infrastructure difficult.
The Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment, Truong Van Doan, said foreign investment in Lang Son has remained low, with some 30 investment projects worth $86 million.
"This is a very limited figure when put into the context that Viet Nam attracted a record $64 billion in foreign investment in 2008, triple that of 2007," Doan said.
He said that the Ministry of Planning and Investment would do its utmost to make Lang Son more attractive to investors.
He also said the tourism and service sector would soon be among Lang Son’s major breadwinners.
A $1.4 billion project to build a highway linking Ha Noi with Lang Son’s Huu Nghi international border gate will soon be implemented and a railway connecting Lang Son and three other cities in Viet Nam with China’s Nanning is now in the pipeline. Both projects would make Lang Son more attractive to investors, said the deputy minister.
Also at yesterday’s conference, Lang Son authorities handed over investment certificates to five local investors and entered into Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with four domestic businesses.
VietNamNet, Viet Nam News
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