The central coastal region of Vietnam should enhance its sea tourismpotential and natural resources to attract investment and development,said Nguyen Ba Thanh, Head of the Central Coastal Regional CoordinationBoard cum Head of the Central Internal Affairs Committee, said on March22.
Thanh told a two-day conference on investment in thecentral coastal region yesterday that there was great potential forsocio-economic development but achievements so far were belowexpectations.
Thanh said the region needs to work out measuresto tackle problems related to infrastructure, incentive policies andmechanisms, and human resources.
Ministry of Planning andInvestment Development Strategy Institute director Bui Tat Thang saidthe most prominent advantage of the region is sea tourism.
Along 1,400km of coastline, nine provinces in the region stretching fromThua Thien-Hue to Binh Thuan boast beautiful beaches, many islands andfour world cultural heritage sites.
The region also hasabundant natural resources such as titan, iron, aluminum and oil,especially oil with its spearhead projects of Dung Quat and Vung Ro.
To date, six economic zones and 34 industrial zones had beenestablished and connected to the seaport and domestic and internationalairports.
Statistics showed investments in the region during2007-12 hit 605 trillion VND (28.8 billion USD) with an averageyear-on-year growing rate of 11 percent.
As of 2012, the regionattracted 709 foreign direct investment projects with a totalregistered capital of 25.25 billion USD, making up 12.14 percent of thecountry's registered FDI.
The average gross domestic productgrowth rate per capita was 12.5 percent in 2006-11, nearly doubling thecountry's average.
Deputy Minister of Planning and InvestmentDang Huy Dong told the conference that enhancing the regional link isthe optimal solution to turn the region into a single economic space toexploit the competitive advantages of each locality.
He urgedthe provinces to focus on completing infrastructure in economic andindustrial zones, providing support to investors by speeding up landclearances, and attracting investment corresponding to regionalcompetitiveness.
Head of the Consultative Group for Developmentof the Central Region Tran Du Lich said connectivity between thedeep-water port, airport and economic and industrial zones also needs tobe enhanced to reduce transport costs.
He said mechanisms and policies should focus on investments in key industries.
At the two-day conference, investors' commitment in the region reacheda total value of over 30.8 billion USD. Nine projects in regionalprovinces and cities received investment licences worth a combined valueof nearly 197 million USD. The Bank for Investment and Development ofVietnam also signed credit contracts with enterprises totalling about221 million USD.-VNA