Thai Nguyen asked to become industrial, service hub in the North

Thai Nguyen (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has asked the northern province of Thai Nguyen to strive to become a leading hub of industry, service and innovation of the northern region and the whole country.

Addressing Thai Nguyen’s investment promotion conference on July 1, the PM suggested that the locality should take advantage of the Republic of Korea-invested Samsung Thai Nguyen as a driving force for the local socio-economic development, especially in boosting electronic industry’s growth in a sustainable manner.

He noted that Samsung has contributed to raise the province’s industrial production by 15 times in three years, adding that exports of the province also increased from 245 million USD in 2013 to 23.5 billion in 2017.

Besides, Thai Nguyen needs to focus on building trademark for its specialty tea by forming trademark, image and geographical indication for the product, thus boosting the product’s exports, he said.

At the same time, the province should work harder to establish a tourism complex at national and international level by promoting Ho Nui Coc and Tam Dao’s eastern mountain side and other historical and cultural relic sites such as Dinh Hoa safety zone and Tan Trao relic site, with links to Ba Be Lake in Bac Kan.

PM Phuc also asked Thai Nguyen to complete its socio-economic development plan with closer links with other localities and international partners, while ensuring social equality, thus boosting inclusive growth.

He pledged that the Government will supervise and support Thai Nguyen through restructuring the economy, improving growth quality, stabilising macro-economy, improving investment and business environment and ensuring transparency.

During the conference, Thai Nguyen called for investment in 65 projects in various fields, including industry, agriculture, trade infrastructure, culture, tourism, sports, transport, urban, health care, education. It also aimed to lure investors to five industrial parks.

Currently, Thai Nguyen is hosting 6,318 enterprises with total investment of 79.5 trillion VND (3.49 billion USD) and 130 FDI projects worth 7.3 billion USD.

At the event, the province granted investment certificates to 50 projects worth 46.78 trillion VND.

Commercial banks also handed over 12 billion VND to Thai Nguyen as social welfare support to the province. The banks also coordinated with investors to verify and sign credit contracts for 27 projects with total loans of 10.19 trillion VND in the prioritised sectors of agriculture, export, small-and-medium-sized enterprises, supporting industry, and high technology industry.

On the occasion, PM Phuc also visited and presented gifts to Hero of the Armed Force Nguyen Viet Duc in Tan Thinh district of Thai Nguyen city.-VNA