A conference was held in Nghe An province on Oct. 17 to call for more investment in the north central region.

Representatives from a number of ministries, embassies and international organisations joined almost 1,000 local and foreign businesspeople at the event.

The north central region includes six provinces, namely Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue. These provinces now have 189 valid FDI projects, with a combined registered capital of 19.1 billion USD, accounting for 10 percent of the country’s FDI.

However, the results have yet to match the region’s potential as the FDI projects mainly focus on heavy industry, seaports and tourism, while the region’s strengths in forestry, agriculture and fishery have not been fully tapped.

Speaking at the conference, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc asked ministries, branches and investors to seek solutions to help the region develop in a sustainable and dynamic way.

He also asked the localities to continue improving their investment environments, fight corruption in investment attraction and formulate more policies to encourage foreign investors.

The Deputy PM expressed his hope that, with support of the Party and State as well as the efforts of the provinces, the north-central region would become an attractive destination for both domestic and international investors./.