The southern province of Dong Nai has always been the most attractivedestination for foreign investors in recent years, drawing an average ofover 1 billion USD a year even in the face of global economic crisis.
Inan interview given to the Vietnam Business Forum, Director of theprovincial Department of Planning and Investment Bo Ngoc Thu, said theprovince selectively licenses investment projects, with priority givento those using advanced, environmentally-friendly technologies,manufacturing industrial parts, providing services and investing ininfrastructure.
*Could you please tell us about foreign directinvestment (FDI) attraction results of the province? What are thefactors that make this success?
In the past years, althoughVietnam saw decline in FDI attraction because of global economicdownturn, Dong Nai province still managed to achieve good and stableresults. FDI projects have had progress in quality. Most new projectsfocus on high-tech technologies and support industries which are in linewith the province’s investment direction.
In 2012, the provinceattracted 1.2 billion USD of FDI capital, ranking fourth in the country,over 33.4 percent higher than the yearly plan. Among 53 new investmentprojects licensed in the year, 24 projects registered to invest insupporting industries (with 520 millionUSD) and three projects wereengaged in high technology (14.6 millionUSD). Foreign investorsdisbursed 927 millionUSD, exceeding the annual target by 27.5 percent.
In2013, FDI capital reached 1.64 billion USD, up 36 percent year on yearand 82.4 percent higher than the 2013 plan. Among 82 new FDI projectsare one hospital project, two high-tech projects and 26 supportingindustry projects. Foreign investors disbursed 1 billion USD in theyear, 11 percent higher than the full-year plan.
In the firstquarter of 2014, Dong Nai ranked third nationwide in FDI attraction with439.8 million USD, up 34 percent year on year and equal to 55 percentof the full-year target. Seven out of 15 projects licensed registered toinvest in supporting industries and the rest was environment-friendlyindustrial projects. FDI disbursement reached 250 million USD in thequarter, equal to 25 percent of the yearly target.
As of March31, 2014, the province had attracted 1,398 FDI projects with a totalinvestment capital of 24.5 billion USD. For the time being, 1,091projects are in force, with a total investment capital of 20.444 billionUSD. Up to 97.2 percent of projects are in operation without anyproblems, only 0.02 percent of projects were slow to deploy, 0.03percent of projects were suspended owing to financial difficulties, and318 projects totalling 4.369 billion USD had their investmentcertificates revoked.
Dong Nai is always the most interestingdestination for foreign investors because its industrial parks havecomplete infrastructure and smooth transport systems. Specially, theprovincial government particularly focuses on administrative reform, andadministrative procedures are processed in accordance to single-windowand one-stop source mechanism where service quality is getting better.
Onthe other hand, the province is persistent with the working principle“government accompanies businesses" and investors are supported from thetime they first come to the province to the time they put theirprojects into operations. The provincial leaders are ready to listen toinvestors’ feedback to provide solutions to their problems.
Besides,Dong Nai province has effectively carried out investment promotion andinvestors have been thus informed clearly of local situations beforethey make investment decisions. In addition, the success of operationalFDI enterprises is a very convincing proof to new ones.
*Accordingto economic experts, Dong Nai province’s ability to draw a lot of FDIcapital proves its efforts to change the thinking of investmentattraction. So, what are the changes in thinking?
The investmentattraction results are accrued from many factors in combination. Apartfrom general solutions for a better investment environment, the changesin investment attraction orientations and the changes in investmentpromotion are very important.
In the past years, the province haspromoted investment in some potential countries and signed contractswith foreign agencies to promote investment in their countries.Importantly, existing successful investors in Dong Nai are the mosteffective channel.
*In 2014, the province hopes to draw 700-900million USD of FDI capital, including both fresh and added capital. Whydid Dong Nai province set a lower target for 2014 than in 2013?
DongNai province targets to attract 700 - 900 million USD FDI capital for2014, lower level than in 2013, because the province advocated selectivelicensing, with priorities given to projects using advanced,environmentally friendly technologies, manufacturing industrial parts,providing services and investing in infrastructure. Supporting industryprojects often have small-scale and require small capital.
In2013, the province attracted 1.6 billion USD FDI capital, 48.3 percentof which was added capital from existing projects. In 2014, someprojects have announced investment expansion but they have yet torelease the official figures.
*To facilitate FDI enterprises to invest in the southern key economic zone, what will the province do in 2014 and beyond?
Inthe coming time, Dong Nai province will mobilise all resources todevelop technical infrastructure to meet social and economic developmentrequirements, ensure water and electricity supplies, transportation andcommunication services; and encourage environmentally-friendly,energy-saving technologies in industrial production. Besides, theprovince will actively encourage supporting industry projects to servebackbone industries like mechanical manufacturing, electrics -electronics, organic food processing and relocate labour-intensiveprojects to rural areas.
In addition to supporting investors withinformation about policies and priority fields, Dong Nai province willcontinue to review regulatory documents to eradicate overlapping orunsuitable regulations. Meanwhile, the province will step up investmentpromotion activities to attract new foreign investors.-VNA