A view of the Co Co River in Da Nang city. The central city has been calling for investment in infrastructure, health, hi-tech industries, tourism and hi-tech agriculture (Photo: VNA)
Da Nang (VNA) - As it prepares tohost the 2017 APEC Summit, the central city is hoping a business convention inSeptember will help it bolster its already-strong record of attracting foreignand domestic investment.
The city will host a businessforum, Invest Da Nang Forum, for more than 600 diplomats, businesspeople,representatives of ministries, and organisations from Asia-Pacific EconomicCo-operation (APEC) member countries.
As a prelude to the 2017 APECSummit November 5-11, it is expected to be the largest such event in the city’shistory.
After several years of high-profile developmentprojects, including high-tech centres, a new road, and a new airport terminal,the forum is expected to give Da Nang further momentum.
Director of the Da Nang Investment Promotion andSupport Agency Le Canh Duong, said the three-day forum, running from September29th to October 1st will focus on eight investment fields that the city hasbeen focused on, including infrastructure, real estate, high-tech parks andsupportive industries, information technology (IT), high-tech farms, heath,education and tourism.
Duong told Viet Nam News that the Prime Ministerof Vietnam will give a key speech on the official opening day at the Ariyana DaNang Exhibition & Convention Centre – the major convention centre of the2017 APEC Summit.
It is expected that investment licences for someprojects will be granted at the forum, and a series of Memoranda ofUnderstanding (MoU) and loan agreements will be signed, joining a slew ofprojects completed or underway in the central city.
According to latest reports, Da Nang hasattracted 461 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects worth 3.8 billion USD todate. In the first half of this year, the city granted investment licences to36 foreign direct investment projects worth 32 million USD.
Earlier this month, the city listed 68Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) projects, 22 of them in the hi-tech sector.From 2017-20, the projects call for investment from domestic and foreignbusinesses of 1.4 billion USD.
The city’s 1,010-ha high-tech park, which wasbuilt in 2013 in Hoa Vang district, 20km west of the city, has attracted sixprojects valued at 180 million USD from two Japanese and four domesticinvestors.
The Japanese investors – Tokyo Keiki PrecisionTechnology Inc and Niwa Foundry – have officially begun operations at theirplants in the park with total investment of 62 million USD, while the fourdomestic investors are still in the construction phase.
FDI enterprises in Da Nang earnedrevenue of 776 million USD, of which 522 million USD came from exports – andcontributed 112 million USD to the State budget in 2015.
Last week, the city restarted construction ofthe 341ha Da Nang Information Technology Park (DITP) in Hoa Vang district. Thepark was designed as the Silicon Valley of central Vietnam. Total registeredinvestment there stands at 278 million USD.
The city officially put into operation of thefirst 65km road section of the 140km Da Nang-Quang Ngai Expressway on August 2.
The new terminal of Da Nang InternationalAirport also launched in May to host 150 flight arrivals and departures, 15,000passengers and about 50 tonnes of cargo every day.
Da Nang also plans to build Lien Chieu port as amain logistics centre in ASEAN and within the East-West Economic Corridor(EWEC) that links Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.
Despite the central city’s focus on attractinginvestment, the forum won’t be all business; it will also include anexhibition, friendly tennis and golf competitions and tours of real estateprojects and industrial parks in Da Nang.-VNA
VNA
