Quang Ninh (VNA) - In 2023, the northeastern province of Quang Ninh has determinedenhancing the effectiveness of investment attraction and people’s livingconditions as its key tasks.

Newpositive signs

At the start of2023, Quang Ninh kicked off a project to develop 7.4-hectare Bac Tien PhongIndustrial Park with investment capital of 20.5 million USD. The project aimsto construct a system of high-quality ready-made factories and warehouses toserve manufacturing and business projects in the industrial park.

Bac Tien Phongis expected to make a positive impact on Quang Ninh’s socio-economicdevelopment, helping to turn the province into a multi-sectoral economic centreof the region and the country.

Recently, QuangNinh’s leaders had working sessions with many major investors such as theSingapore Business Federation, 60 enterprises from Hong Kong (China) and Koreaninvestors. As such, the province attracted nearly 4.8 trillion VND (201 millionUSD) in January, a 4.5-fold increase over the same month in 2022. The Republicof Korea is identified as one of the province’s strategic markets, with a totalinvestment capital of 123.6 million USD and 12 active projects mainly inmanufacturing, property and education.

In recent years,industrial parks in Quang Ninh have demonstrated their increased attractivenessto foreign investors. Quang Yen township is the locality with the largestnumber of industrial parks in the province, namely Dong Mai, Song Khoai, NamTien Phong, Bac Tien Phong and Bach Dang, covering a total area of 4,600hectares.

To date, manylarge foreign enterprises such as Amata, Deep C and Foxconn have invested inindustrial parks in Quang Yen. To attract secondary investors in these fiveindustrial parks, the township has been focused on developing infrastructure inthe Quang Yen Coastal Economic Zone.

Chairman of the QuangYen Township People’s Committee Tran Duc Thang said the local authorities seekto attract enterprises by providing support in terms of infrastructure, humanresources, and a stable and transparent environment, while at the same timeproviding cleared land, supporting legal procedures, and preparing to receive ashift in foreign investment flows.

The townshipalso gives priority to accelerating administrative reform, managing and usingland effectively and ensuring social security and public order. It is estimatedthat the Quang Yen Coastal Economic Zone needs about 160 trillion VND (6.7billion USD) of investment for the 2020-2035 period. With this resource, QuangYen will fine-tune its transport infrastructure linking roads within the townshipand the township with other regions. Quang Yen is receiving large flows ofinvestment, becoming a new destination for investors in Quang Ninh province.

Removingbottlenecks

Secretary of theQuang Ninh Party Committee Nguyen Xuan Ky stated that the province’s newforeign investment policy will focus on the East Asian markets such as Japanand the Republic of Korea, as well as give priority to the US, EU andSingapore.

New-generationforeign-invested projects must meet the certain criteria, including the minimaluse of land, labour and energy, and low levels of pollution, especially thosewith advanced technology, clean technology, high added value, modern managementand major impact on the province and country’s socio-economic development.

In fact, QuangNinh province has failed to attract major foreign investors in the fields thatit is calling for investment, such as manufacturing and logistics. Furthermore,there have been no models of joint ventures between foreign and domesticenterprises.

Quang Ninh’sleaders have acknowledged this problem and attributed the responsibility to anumber of supporting agencies and investors in infrastructure at industrialparks.

The realityshows that industrial park infrastructure investors still have the mentality ofwaiting for secondary investors before completing the shared infrastructure inindustrial parks while foreign investors want to have ready-made technicalinfrastructure before making their investment decisions. This hold-up is thereason why the occupancy ratio of industrial parks in Quang Ninh is only 40% onaverage. In addition, Quang Ninh is facing the possibility of high-qualityworkers relocating to neighbouring localities due to its failure to attractprojects using advanced technology.

According to Bruno Jaspaert, CEO of Deep C, which is investing intwo industrial parks in Quang Ninh, the issue of a high-quality workforce is achallenge to Quang Ninh. The province needs to abolish the mindset of advantagein cheap labour and prioritise fields such as electronics and equipmentmanufacturing.

Facing theaforementioned drawbacks, Quang Ninh has determined that first and foremost, itneeds to create a transparent and open business environment, with lowunofficial costs and a dedicated team of officials and public servants so as toincrease investors’ confidence.

At the sametime, the province will not compromise on renewing and extending the operationof projects that are slow to implement, occupy a lot of land, use outdatedtechnologies, fail to meet environmental standards, or make minor contributionsto economic growth and government budget. In 2023, Quang Ninh strives to reach60 trillion VND (2.5 billion USD) in non-public investment, attract 1 billionUSD of foreign direct investment in its industrial parks and develop at least2,000 new enterprises.

Quang Ninh isone of the most attractive investment destinations with a modern administrationthat works to serve the people and enterprises effectively. In the spirit ofcomprehensive cooperation, Quang Ninh will create all favourable conditions interms of administrative procedures and land so as to create an open, equal andtransparent business environment for investors to succeed./.