New incentives for using hi-tech park

Hanoi (VNA) – The Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and the Hoa Lac Hi-tech Park are to complete a draft of a decree on specific investment incentives for the park, according to the ministry.

Under a plan approved by the Prime Minister, the park is to be a national centre for research, development and application of high technologies, as well as a place for developing hi-tech human resources and enterprises, and the production of and trading in hi-tech products.

The park had been developed according to the plan for 15 years and had created a hi-tech city, said MOST Deputy Minister Pham Dai Duong, who is also head of the Hoa Lac Hi-tech Zone management board, at a recent meeting between the ministry and Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam on issuing the decree.

However, the park had not seen the breakthroughs in development as had been expected, he said, so the ministry and the management board identified the advantages and obstacles to the zone’s development.

They proposed a decree on specific investment incentives to attract more investors to the park and support it to make breakthroughs in development.

The Prime Minister has directed the ministry to draft the decree having new points in investment incentives and transparency in attracting investors.

Duong said the park had applied some investment incentives for the park according to the Government’s Decision 53/2004/QD-TTg issued on April 5, 2004.

Investors had not enjoyed those incentives due to difficulties and obstacles in the process of implementing the incentives, he said. Therefore, the park would need feasible and more preferential policies to attract investors.

According to the draft, the decree would focus on solving difficulties to promote development of the park and create favourable conditions for attracting local and foreign investors, Duong said.

The draft would make clear the responsibility of the management board and implement a one door policy. It would have incentives to attract investors from all sources, from the State investment for research and development and investment for hi-tech infrastructure for the park.

The draft would also allow for the development of enterprises so they would enjoy a favourable investment environment, simple administrative procedures and low input costs with incentives in land, corporate income tax, individual income tax, import and export tax, and value-added tax.-VNA