Many large Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) projects in the central coastal region are bringing fresh impetus to local socio-economic development, radio The Voice of Vietnam (VOV) reported on June 10.

Phu Yen province recently confirmed that a 3.2 billion USD oil refinery project of UK Technostar Management Ltd in Vung Ro is set to get off the ground this August.

“We are pinning much hope on the project stimulating local socio-economic development,” said Nguyen Ngoc An, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee.

As a matter of policy, the People’s Committee is committed to creating the best conditions for investors to implement projects on schedule, he added.

When the Vung Ro project is fully operational, it should contribute about 111 million USD per annum to the state budget and generate jobs for roughly 1,300 labourers.

Production at the refinery should also buttress the nation’s economy which is highly dependent on importing oil from foreign countries. The new refinery will allow Vietnam to greatly reduce its dependency on foreign oil.

In the past week, the Binh Dinh provincial People’s Committee also worked with Thailand’s Petroleum Corporation seeking for a 27 billion USD Nhon Hoi oil refinery project.

“If the project is approved, it will create numerous advantages for attracting investment into support industries for the petrochemical industry and other services,” said Man Ngoc Ly, Head of the Management Board of the Nhon Hoi Economic Zone.

The two projects hold great promise for the future economic landscape in the region, acting as a catalyst for propelling its economy forward and improving its investment environment.

Since the Dung Quat oil refinery was constructed in Quang Ngai province, the central coastal region has been "awakened", and these projects are contributing to reshaping the oil refinery industry in the entire nation.

Tran Duy Dong, a senior official of the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), said the central coastal region also holds great potential for developing other industries, such as power generation, steel making, tourism and seafood processing.

The US’s Exxon Mobil Corporation recently announced it is planning to invest in a gas-power complex project in the region to bring gas ashore and build gas and power plants. With a scheduled investment capital outlay of 20 billion USD, the economic benefits are bound to reverberate throughout the region.

Le Van Dung, Deputy Head of the Management Board of Dung Quat Economic Zone, noted that other projects such as Guang Lian steel plans to raise their investment capital by 1.5 billion USD to 4.5 billion USD and planned thermoelectric Semcorp bumped up their capital by 2 billion USD.

Additionally, preparations for constructing two nuclear power plants in Ninh Thuan province are underway. Once these projects are put into operation, they will sow enormous benefits local and national economies, helping ensure national energy security.

The provinces of Quang Nam, Da Nang, Hue, Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan provinces are increasingly becoming more attractive to domestic and foreign tourists and the tourism industry is starting to blossom. There are a series of tourist resort projects underway along Vietnam’s most beautiful coastline.

The largest project in this area is South Hoi An in Quang Nam province, which is still being constructed at a total cost of 4 billion USD.

The tourism sector promises to bring many benefits for localities, especially in job creation, contributing significantly to budget revenue and stimulating local economic growth.-VNA