The central province of Ninh Thuan is a reliable destination for domestic and foreign investors due to the local policies to attract investment.

State President Nguyen Minh Triet made the affirmation at the Oct. 17 conference on investment promotion in Ninh Thuan, which was held by the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Ninh Thuan provincial authorities and the Japan External Trade Organisation.

President Triet said Ninh Thuan has great potentials in terms of minerals, sea, cultural traditions and human resourse. He urged enterprises to focus on those potential when making their investment decisions.

He added that Ninh Thuan was selected to be the venue for the country’s two first nuclear power plants, which would be a lever to boost investment. He expressed his hope that after this conference, the province would soon make a breakthrough in socio-economic development.

The conference was attended by representatives from ministries, sectors, cities and provinces, as well as international organisations and more than 500 domestic and foreign investors.

The provincial authorities presented Ninh Thuan’s socio-economic development strategy till 2020 and vision to 2010, land use planning, investment incentives and key projects in need of investment.

At the conference, the province granted investment licences to the Phuoc Huu wind power plant, a grape farm with a wine factory, the Ganesa resort, Bai Thung eco-tourism area and an urban area. The five projects have combined capital of 3 trillion VND.

Besides, the province also signed investment cooperation agreements with domestic and foreign partners to carry out five other projects with a combined capital of 20.1 trillion VND (1.1 billion USD).

The same day, construction of three large-scale projects valued at 3.1 trillion VND (173 million USD) started in Ninh Thuan.

The Binh Tien Tourism Co. Ltd launched a tourism project covering 190 ha that houses a luxury resort, a hotel, villas, a cultural village, a dog racing ground, and an 18-hole golf course. The project has an investment capital of 2.5 trillion VND (143 million USD) and is expected to be completed in 2014.

The Ha Long Production and Investment Co. Ltd is investing 350 billion VND (19.4 million USD) in a project to process salt products. It will be put into operation in the first quarter of 2010 to produce 200,000 tonnes of salt a year for domestic consumption and exports.

Work also started on the building of Ninh Chu bridge across Khanh Hoi estuary by the provincial Department of Transport. The 511m long bridge, to be built at a cost of 192 billion VND (10.7 million USD) is expected to facilitate traffic along the coastal route after its completion in 2011./.