A corner of Quang Ninh (Photo: VNA) New positive signs
At the start of 2023, Quang Ninh kicked off a project to develop 7.4-hectare Bac Tien Phong Industrial Park with investment capital of 20.5 million USD. The project aims to construct a system of high-quality ready-made factories and warehouses to serve manufacturing and business projects in the industrial park.
Bac Tien Phong is expected to make a positive impact on Quang Ninh’s socio-economic development, helping to turn the province into a multi-sectoral economic centre of the region and the country.
Recently, Quang Ninh’s leaders had working sessions with many major investors such as the Singapore Business Federation, 60 enterprises from Hong Kong (China) and Korean investors. As such, the province attracted nearly 4.8 trillion VND (201 million USD) in January, a 4.5-fold increase over the same month in 2022. The Republic of Korea is identified as one of the province’s strategic markets, with a total investment capital of 123.6 million USD and 12 active projects mainly in manufacturing, property and education.
In recent years, industrial parks in Quang Ninh have demonstrated their increased attractiveness to foreign investors. Quang Yen township is the locality with the largest number of industrial parks in the province, namely Dong Mai, Song Khoai, Nam Tien Phong, Bac Tien Phong and Bach Dang, covering a total area of 4,600 hectares.
To date, many large foreign enterprises such as Amata, Deep C and Foxconn have invested in industrial parks in Quang Yen. To attract secondary investors in these five industrial parks, the township has been focused on developing infrastructure in the Quang Yen Coastal Economic Zone.
Chairman of the Quang Yen Township People’s Committee Tran Duc Thang said the local authorities seek to attract enterprises by providing support in terms of infrastructure, human resources, and a stable and transparent environment, while at the same time providing cleared land, supporting legal procedures, and preparing to receive a shift in foreign investment flows.
The township also gives priority to accelerating administrative reform, managing and using land effectively and ensuring social security and public order. It is estimated that the Quang Yen Coastal Economic Zone needs about 160 trillion VND (6.7 billion USD) of investment for the 2020-2035 period. With this resource, Quang Yen will fine-tune its transport infrastructure linking roads within the township and the township with other regions. Quang Yen is receiving large flows of investment, becoming a new destination for investors in Quang Ninh province.
Removing bottlenecks
Secretary of the Quang Ninh Party Committee Nguyen Xuan Ky stated that the province’s new foreign investment policy will focus on the East Asian markets such as Japan and the Republic of Korea, as well as give priority to the US, EU and Singapore.
New-generation foreign-invested projects must meet the certain criteria, including the minimal use of land, labour and energy, and low levels of pollution, especially those with advanced technology, clean technology, high added value, modern management and major impact on the province and country’s socio-economic development.
In fact, Quang Ninh province has failed to attract major foreign investors in the fields that it is calling for investment, such as manufacturing and logistics. Furthermore, there have been no models of joint ventures between foreign and domestic enterprises.
Quang Ninh’s leaders have acknowledged this problem and attributed the responsibility to a number of supporting agencies and investors in infrastructure at industrial parks.
The reality shows that industrial park infrastructure investors still have the mentality of waiting for secondary investors before completing the shared infrastructure in industrial parks while foreign investors want to have ready-made technical infrastructure before making their investment decisions. This hold-up is the reason why the occupancy ratio of industrial parks in Quang Ninh is only 40% on average. In addition, Quang Ninh is facing the possibility of high-quality workers relocating to neighbouring localities due to its failure to attract projects using advanced technology.
According to Bruno Jaspaert, CEO of Deep C, which is investing in two industrial parks in Quang Ninh, the issue of a high-quality workforce is a challenge to Quang Ninh. The province needs to abolish the mindset of advantage in cheap labour and prioritise fields such as electronics and equipment manufacturing.
Facing the aforementioned drawbacks, Quang Ninh has determined that first and foremost, it needs to create a transparent and open business environment, with low unofficial costs and a dedicated team of officials and public servants so as to increase investors’ confidence.
At the same time, the province will not compromise on renewing and extending the operation of projects that are slow to implement, occupy a lot of land, use outdated technologies, fail to meet environmental standards, or make minor contributions to economic growth and government budget. In 2023, Quang Ninh strives to reach 60 trillion VND (2.5 billion USD) in non-public investment, attract 1 billion USD of foreign direct investment in its industrial parks and develop at least 2,000 new enterprises.
Quang Ninh is one of the most attractive investment destinations with a modern administration that works to serve the people and enterprises effectively. In the spirit of comprehensive cooperation, Quang Ninh will create all favourable conditions in terms of administrative procedures and land so as to create an open, equal and transparent business environment for investors to succeed./.
VNA
