Southern Vietnam open for business
HANOI - Long An province aims to attract more foreign investment,
and is preparing to accelerate the development of its infrastructure and
human resources to cope with the demands of expanding industry.
The southern province of Long An, which is only 30 kilometers from Ho
Chi Minh City, has made these moves to welcome investors, in the hope
that the province can catch up with the development of the surrounding
areas, which are already benefiting from foreign capital. These areas
being mostly saturated, the region will be seen as a prime location for
expansion of industries and could serve as a satellite town.
The provincial authorities have taken steps to plan for the arrival of
investors and a series of projects have been implemented. They include
the construction of the Ben Luc, Cau Van, My Yen, Long Hiep, Duc
Hoa, and Tan Kim industrial zones [IZs] and the Soai Rap sea port in
Tan An District, which will cover an area of 2,362 hectares.
Efforts have been made to alleviate the traditional problems faced by
foreign investors, such as the difficulty in ensuring land clearance, and the
lack of technical infrastructure, including electricity, drainage and water
systems, as well as a lack of local accommodation for staff.
Four projects have been implemented during the first six months of this
year, which will involve capital of more than US$200 million. Capital
from Taiwanese investors accounts for 80 percent of this total, which will
largely be spent on IZ's specializing in export goods.
The provincial chairman said that the government has been asked to help
to establish these southern economic hot spots by introducing favorable
policies relating to administration, tariffs and prices.
Long An is an agricultural province, and therefore, more than 50 percent
of the province's gross domestic product (GDP) is generated by the
agricultural sector. At present, industrial production accounts for only
21.5 percent of the local GDP.
Over recent years, investment has poured into other local provinces,
such as Binh Duong and Dong Nai, as well as Ho Chi Minh City and
other towns. Long An province has been mainly neglected. Due to this,
the area loses 51 percent of its labor force to Ho Chi Minh City and the
surrounding areas, such as Binh Duong. In order to keep local laborers,
the province must find a way to provide stable employment for workers.
According to provincial chairman, Truong Van Tiep, the Vam Co Dong
region, close to Ho Chin Minh City has been designated as a key area.
The flat land and cheap prices should give the area advantages over Ho
Chi Minh City. Furthermore, local laborers earn only US$38 per month
per capita, which is lower than those in Ho Chi Minh City, where
workers can command up to $45 per month. This is a very substantial
wage for a laborer in the Long An province. Moreover, the province is
home to a waterway transport system, which could link the area with the
provinces in the Cuu Long (Mekong) River Delta region.
At present, the province is working on educating and preparing the local
labor force. Many job promotion centers have been established, and are
turning out a plentiful supply of skilled laborers. Abundant material
resources are also a strength of the area, with both the agro-product and
aqua-processing sectors flourishing.
For its part, Ho Chi Minh City has announced plans to boost foreign
investment and trade in an attempt to reach this year's social and
economic targets. The city will make trade and investment available
online and on a CD-ROM in a bid to attract more foreign investment.
Content will include information about new investment projects,
incentives and amendments to laws governing foreign and domestic
investment, and licensing procedures.
Local authorities will also meet with foreign and domestic-invested
enterprises to examine problems regarding the investment climate.
Particular attention will be paid to the requests of foreign investors, as
well as half-yearly figures recording the city's foreign and domestic
investment.
The meetings are intended to swiftly deal with problems experienced by
investors, involving tax, land rental and registration procedures, with
reference to the city's industrial parks (IP) and export processing zones
(EPZs). A total of 65 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects with
combined capital of $209 million have been licensed in Ho Chi Minh City
during the first five months of the year. This represents an increase of
114.5 percent in value compared to the same period last year. The city
expects to attract foreign investment capital of around $800 million by
the end of the year.
To encourage trade and exports, the city will provide partial funding to
domestic businesses marketing their products at international fairs and
seminars. It will arrange trips for entrepreneurs to attend export
commodity fairs in Dubai, the United States, South Africa and the
Ukraine which will be held later this year. The authorities also plan to
open an investment and trade promotion office in San Francisco, in order
to develop opportunities and strengthen trade ties between Vietnam and
the west coast US city.
City authorities are expected to draw up a plan to boost exports to the
United States, provided that the bilateral trade agreement is ratified later
this year. The plan will focus on giving priority to investments in sectors
including: farm and marine processing; mechanical engineering;
electronics; pharmaceuticals; garments and textiles; information
technology; transport and education.
Asia Times - June 26, 2001.
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