The Prime Minister has recently issued a decision on the establishment of a 10,000-hectare economic zone (EZ) in the central province of Quang Binh, which is expected to create a driving force for local economic development.
Hon La will be developed into a multi-sector EZ which is home to the projects of ship building and repair, automobile assembly and manufacturing, electric-electronic-refrigerating industry, glass and building materials production, and steel refinery and rolling.
Garment and textile, footwear, plastics, consumer goods production, agro-forestry-fishery processing, storage, transport and other services are also listed in the zone’s portfolio.
Under the decision, investors both at home and abroad will be offered various incentives such as land lease and tax exemption in the first 15 years and five years of operation respectively, and a 10 per cent corporate income tax during the project durations.
To date, ten businesses have registered to invest in the newly established economic zone, local authorities said.
The province had previously injected hundreds of billions of VND into building infrastructure facilities to serve the zone, including roads, electricity supply networks, a reservoir and a sea port capable of receiving 100,000-ton ships.
Separately, the Ministry of Transport has just put Hon La seaport at Quang Trach district, Quang Binh province into operation.
The port, with an investment capital of VND162.7 billion (over US$10 million) in the first phase, is designed to receive 1.8 million tons of cargo per year from now to 2010.
The port will facilitate goods transport between Vietnam and Laos and Thailand’s north eastern region.
As of 2007, Vietnam’s 11 existing economic zones attracted US$9.9 billion investment from both domestic and foreign investors.
The country needs around VND39 trillion (US$2.43 billion) to develop 13 EZs between now to 2015. (VNS, Urban & Economy)
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