Da Nang (VNA) – As foreign direct investment (FDI) capital has beena major driver for development in the central coastal city of Da Nang, the cityis working to attract more FDI.

FDI bolster local economy

As of September 15, the city housed 660 FDI projects, securing total capital ofmore than 2.87 billion USD. FDI has a crucial role in boosting economic growth,and contributes considerably to the city’s export revenue.

FDI firms exported 557 million USD worth of products in 2015 and gained 765million USD in 2017, which made up 52.2 percent of the city’s total exports. BySeptember this year, export revenue earned by FDI enterprises is estimated at880 million USD, or 53.3 percent of the total shipment value.

Some 44,000 local labourers are employed at FDI companies. Last year, the firmscontributed more than 171.33 million USD to the city’s budget, up 112.87percent from 2016.

During January-August, FDI businesses contributed 120.8 million USD to the Statebudget. The sector also helps promote a positive shift in economic structure,from industry-service-agriculture to service-industry-agriculture. Thus,important production industries have been formed in the city, includingelectronics, motorbike, automobile spare parts and automobile assembly.

Measures taken to up FDI

According to Truong Quang Nghia, Secretary of the municipal Party Committee, asthe city is accelerating FDI attraction, authorities have joined hands withforeign diplomatic offices in Vietnam to promote the city’s image and potentialto investors.

The city has worked to publicise all planning information to ensuretransparency and allow investors to decide the most appropriate investment projects,he said.

Hoping to become a high-quality tourism, service and high-tech hub of Vietnam,the city is prioritizing high-tech projects, including information andtechnology, bio-technology, automation, new material technology,environmentally friendly projects, supporting projects in engineering and precisionengineering, as well as top-quality services, particularly in trade, tourism,logistics, health care and education.

The Da Nang Hi-Tech Park has more than 300 hectares of clean land with full technicalinfrastructure, which is available for investments in bio-technology,microelectronics, optoelectronics, automation, information and technology, precisionengineering, nano technology and environment technology.

Vice Director of the municipal Department of Planning and Investment Le Thi KimPhuong said the city is preparing infrastructure to draw investors. It iscompleting procedures to develop the Lien Chieu port project to serveimport-export activities of FDI firms.

Meanwhile, the city is branching out new industrial parks like Cam Le (30hectares), Hoa Nhon (30 hectares), Hoa Phong (50 hectares), Hoa Khanh Nam (11.8hectares) and Hoa Hiep Bac (13 hectares).

Additionally, it is urging the study of an international hospital project toserve healthcare demand in the city. The hospital’s location is planned in HoaXuan ward, Cam Le district, and Hoa Quy ward, Ngu Hanh Son district.

As part of efforts to connect FDI and domestic firms, the municipal People’sCommittee recently issued a regulation on supporting industry developmentpolicy. Accordingly, the city will give financial support to businesses engagedin studying new technologies.

With pilot production of supporting industrial products, investors will receivemaximum financial aid of 300 million VND (12,900 USD). Meanwhile, those whostudy and develop production technologies will be provided up to 500 millionVND (21,500 USD). Projects to pilot the manufacture of supporting industrialproducts will receive a maximum of 100 million VND (4,300 USD) in aid.

The city will focus on attracting investment from the Republic of Korea, Japan,the US, Singapore, members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation andDevelopment (OECD) in Europe like the UK, France and Germany, who havewell-developed economies and hold strengths in services, high-tech industry,real estate, high-tech agriculture, healthcare and education. -VNA