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| Mr. Le Van Tue, Head of the Provincial Economic and Industrial Zones Management Board |
How do you evaluate the production and business process of enterprises in the economic and industrial zones of the province?
Enterprises, especially those in the fields of textiles, wood chips, enamel frit, fibers of all kinds, etc., are having difficulties in making plans of production and business goals for 2023 due to the decline in the output as well as the number of orders. However, the output of some products such as beer, aluminium cans, frozen shrimp, cristobalite, etc., have soared.
However, the targets regarding the revenue, budget submission, export and import turnovers, etc., have either been achieved or exceeded the proposed plan. Specifically, revenue reached 35,000 billion VND, equal to 2022; export and import turnover reached 1.49 billion USD, witnessing an increase of 14.6% compared to the figure for 2022, accounting for 75% of the province’s export turnover; budget submission reached 3,900 billion VND, recording an increase of 11.4% compared that of 2022, accounting for 35.4% of the province’s budget revenue; with a stable workforce.
You have just mentioned the difficulties, so what is the solution?
To assist businesses in overcoming difficulties, the Management Board of Economic and Industrial Zones of the Province will focus on making the most of the time and resources to complete the preparation, appraisal, and submission for approval of adjustments to the general planning of the economic and industrial zones, as well as construction zoning plans, to be ready for investment attraction, as a legal basis for implementing projects.
It is necessary to proactively reduce and substantially simplify administrative procedures within the scope of assigned state management, as well as absolutely avoid issuing regulations and administrative procedures related to new business investment activities that incur unnecessary costs, procedures, and waiting time for businesses.
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| Many wood processing enterprises likely facing difficulties in 2023 |
Besides, we quickly direct the resolution of procedures to request support for shipping lines to open container shipping routes and those whose goods are transported by container through Chan May port, removing difficulties and reducing production costs for businesses. In addition, we also promote the effectiveness of working groups to remove obstacles, especially in site clearance work; exchange and connect with ministries, branches and central agencies to effectively support businesses and investors; accelerate the implementation progress of key public investment projects such as phase 2 of Chan May port breakwater; etc.
The economic and industrial zones of the province are key areas to attract investment. How is this practice being done, especially in order to attract significant investment projects?
In 2023, the Management Board has granted 11 new investment projects and 5 projects to increase/decrease investment capital, with a total investment attraction capital (including new grants and capital increases) of 6,002 billion VND, exceeding the proposed plan for 2023 (5,000 billion VND - 6,000 billion VND); including 8 FDI projects with a total capital of 134.8 million USD.
Some large-scale projects, such as the project of Creanza high-tech quartz sand processing plant of MIT Vietnam Group Joint Stock Company with a total registered capital of 2,186.6 billion VND; that of Enamel frit factory project, with the capacity of 150,000 tons/year and total registered capital of 610 billion VND; the project to increase beer production capacity from 410 million liters/year to 600 million liters/year of Carlsberg Vietnam Beer Company Limited with a total adjusted capital increase of 1,427 billion VND.
This is a very positive sign in promoting and attracting investment into the economic and industrial zones in the current difficult and challenging context. Besides, there are also many large investors from many countries, ranging from Korea, China, Japan, to Europe, coming to research investments in the economic and industrial zones. A number of large projects have been approved by the Provincial People's Committee to research investment, such as that of Xuan Thien Group conducted in a high-tech, modern, environmentally-friendly green steel factory complex project and a specialized capital port, with the registered capital of about 32,000 billion VND.
Up to now, in the economic and industrial zones of the province, there are 175 valid investment projects with a total registered investment capital of 115,765 billion VND; including 46 FDI projects with registered investment capital of 3.2 billion USD
Sir, in addition to the projects being implemented on schedule, there are many projects in the economic and industrial zones of the province that are behind schedule or paused. What causes this situation?
The impact of the global economic crisis after the COVID-19 pandemic, the prolonged Russia-Ukraine conflict, the complicated and unpredictable developments in the region and the country; and, tightened monetary policy have had a strong impact on businesses. Accordingly, the production and business activities are facing many difficulties, especially in terms of access to loans, decline in export markets and orders, etc.
In 2024, to create a development breakthrough, what solutions will the Provincial Economic and Industrial Zones Management Board focus on?
The Management Board will focus on calling and attracting infrastructure investors in industrial zones in the area, strive to improve the quality of infrastructure construction in the economic and industrial zones in the direction of synchronizing the technical infrastructure system with amenities and public utilities serving such areas. Besides, we will focus on reviewing and adjusting the general planning of the economic and industrial zones, making detailed plans for such areas, ensuring the provision of necessary information for investors during the project investment research process, as well as the convenience in project appraisal and investment licensing.
The Management Board will further simplify administrative procedures on investment, construction, land, environment, etc., in order to shorten the time needed to carry out administrative procedures to a minimum to create favorable conditions for investors. Besides, we will focus on supporting and removing difficulties and obstacles to help significant projects soon be accepted, completed and put into operation to create growth capacity for the province’s economy.
In addition, we will also organize contract signing and cooperation in attracting and promoting qualified domestic and foreign investment promotion organizations, especially large-scale industrial projects, so that a spillover effect can be created, which helps attract tourism support services and supporting industry projects as well as accelerate infrastructure improvement.
Human resources also play an important role, so proactively building plans to meet the labor recruitment needs of investors when investing in the economic and industrial zones also needs attention. The solution is to increase coordination with vocational training centers, industrial colleges, and vocational high schools inside and outside the country to call for the establishment of branches in Hue to improve the quality of human resources for the province’s development; focus on supporting investors in recruiting and training labor resources to serve the project.
Thank you, Sir!