Lam Dong solicits green investment at conference

 

HCM City (VNA) - Lam Dong province would like to attract investment in green energy and technology, a conference on investment promotion held by the Central Highlands province in Ho Chi Minh City on October 26 heard.

Nguyen Van Yen, deputy chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said: “This is a good chance for provincial enterprises to meet, share information, introduce their strengths and the investment incentives offered by Lam Dong to international and local investors.

“We would like to seek business partners to promote sales of our speciality products throughout the nation and even export.”

Lam Dong, which has an area of 9,800sq.km and a population of 1.3 million, is strong in tourism, agriculture and forestry, and agricultural and forestry processing.

Its capital Da Lat is a national and regional resort town and tourism centre with balmy weather and many ancient villas and buildings. The city has 16,740 hotel rooms and received 5.4 million visitors last year, including 270,000 foreigners.

The province’s tourism sector plans to develop a range of activities like eco-tourism, rest and recreation, sightseeing, amusement and entertainment, culture and sports, education, and agro-tourism.

The province has great potential in agriculture. It has nearly 60,000ha under vegetables that yield 2.1 million tonnes a year, or 40 percent of the national output; 8,400ha under flowers that produce nearly 30 million cut flowers, or 45 percent of the national output; 21,000ha under tea; and over 150,000ha under coffee that produce an output of over 430,000 tonnes.

The province’s industrial sector is dominated by mining, manufacture of fertilisers, electricity generation and distribution, and gas production.

Last year its economy grew at 7.93 percent and this year the figure is expected to edge up to 8.2 percent.

Domestic investors have invested a cumulative 108 trillion VND (4.8 billion USD) in 756 projects while foreign investors have 101 projects worth 477 million USD.

“Poor infrastructure, low value addition, limited investment and failure to achieve its tourism potential are the province’s weaknesses,” Yen said.

Tran Ngoc Liem, deputy director of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s HCM City office, said: “In recent years the number of enterprises in Lam Dong has significantly increased.”

“Last year the figure was up 16 percent and in the first seven months of this year the figure rose by 25 percent, far higher than the target of 15 percent. With this growth, the province will have over 9,000 enterprises by 2020,” he added.

In tourism, the province said it would like to promote its advantages of climate and landscapes, with priority given to the development of high-quality eco-tourism, conference tourism, agricultural tourism, developing special products and brands, and developing Da Lat into a superior eco-tourism centre.

To foster trade, Lam Dong wants to develop its agricultural and agro-forestry products and brands, strengthen trade promotion and expand its domestic and international markets.

In agriculture, it would like to develop agro-forestry based on high technology, bio-technology for preservation, and post-harvest processing.

It prioritises the development of processing of products like tea, coffee, mulberry, and dairy and the classification and preservation of vegetables and flowers.

To strengthen its transport infrastructure, Lam Dong wants to build Dau Giay–Lien Khuong Expressway, restore 84km Da Lat-Thap Cham rail route and begin international air services to Singapore and Siem Reap.-VNA