Mr Van Huu Chien, Chairman of the Danang People's Committee, has granted an exclusive interview to Vietnam Business Forum on the city’s development of key economic sectors in the coming time. Ha Linh reports.
Could you tell us Danang City’s advantages when it draws investment capital into industrial zones, and incentives that businesses will get when they invest in Danang High Tech Park?
Danang Industrial Park is known as one of industrial zones situated on a prime location and planned to ensure stability and sustainability of State policies. Its technical infrastructure system is invested synchronously and its social infrastructure is cared properly. The Management Board of Danang Industrial Park also makes every effort to build a friendly, transparent and effective investment environment. Besides, Danang also possesses a lot of other potentials and strengths. Hence, these factors make Danang Industrial Park a centre of investment attraction in central Vietnam.
Investors in Danang High Tech Park will be granted highest investment incentives and supports. Danang City issued clear policies on investment activities in Danang High Tech Park for domestic and foreign investors. Investment projects are granted exemption and reduction in land rents if they attract high-tech human resources to work in the park.
The city is responsible for building the construction ground and shared infrastructures in the high-tech park, including information and telecom system, traffic system, public utilities, water supply network, and wastewater treatment system , for investors.
If investment attraction is good but the access to capital source is difficult, it is eventually not good for investors. So, how has Danang City supported investors to access bank loans, particularly in the current tough time?
Over the past years, the banking system has contributed positively to the socioeconomic development of Danang City. Banks always strive to mobilise capital for development investment and supply premium service quality. Especially, banks actively provide credits for and invaluable supports for the city’s socioeconomic development.
Bank credits play a driving role in maintaining high-rate economic growth for many consecutive years. As of June 30, 2012, total outstanding loans of banks reached VND48 trillion (US$2.3 billion), bringing the average annual growth in the 1997 - June 2012 period to23.45 per cent. Specifically, short-term loans accounted for VND26.36 trillion and long-term loans made up VND21,771 billion.
Banks also pays high attention to funding businesses and results are very good. As of June 30, 2012, outstanding loans for industrial companies, commercial companies and construction companies accounted for 21.37 per cent, 19.45 per cent, and 12.8 per cent of the total outstanding loans, respectively. Especially, in recent years, when we adopted inflation curbing by applying aggregate demand reduction measures, we carried out tightened monetary policies launched by the State Bank of Vietnam and restructured credit funding. To this effect, channelling capitals into prioritised sectors was considered a top task. Credits for the business sector increased from 73 per cent of total outstanding at the end of 2010 to 78 per cent loans at the end of 2011.
The industry also plays a very important role in the city’s socio-economic development process. What are the city’s views on industrial development?
Industrial development is an important task of the city’s social and economic development, making Danang one of the country's biggest cities and a centre of economy, culture, science, technology in the central region, and a strategically important position in terms of defence and security of the central region and the country.
Danang is oriented to develop a sustainable and efficient industry, promote its advantages in central key economic zone, to ensure the connectivity on the basis of reasonable distribution of territorial space and industrial sector structure.
Industry will be selectively developed and sectors employing advanced sciences and technologies and using high-quality human resources will be attached priority.
In addition to the development of modern, advanced modern industries, the city will focus on the development of traditional industries. The city places priority to industries that create products for tourism development, create jobs for citizens, increase incomes for workers, narrow socioeconomic development gap between rural and urban areas, and accelerate the process of agricultural and rural industrialisation. Industrial development must be associated with environmental protection, sustainable development, social stability and national security.
Danang City is branded as a 'paradise' of tourism on earth. Tourism is also considered its key economic sector. So, how will Danang focus on developing this area?
Tourism development is a key economic sector. The city is attracting more and more tourists, especially foreigners. It effectively enhances tourism quality and diversifies tourism products, particularly the combination of tourism with culture. It also completes tourist infrastructure and tourism investment projects; build modern tourism environment, create high-quality tourism human resources; increase the contribution of tourism to the city's GDP to 7 per cent in 2015.
Fishery is the comparative advantage of Danang City over other provinces and cities in the country. Could you talk about how will the city plans to do to create development breakthroughs for this sector?
Danang has a more than 70-km coastline, with deep-water bays and ports like Lien Chieu and Tien Sa. According to a survey by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam, the central fishing grounds currently hold a reserve of 1.14 million tonnes of marine creatures belonging to more than 670 species, including 110 species with high economic value.
According to the agricultural and countryside development plan till 2020, the city will modernise and industrialise its fishery sector by restructuring ship fleet and fishing activities, building offshore fishing logistics services, and organising processing activities to enhance quality and economic efficiency.
To make breakthroughs in quality and output in the fisheries sector, Danang City will continue investing in fishing logistics infrastructures. The city will have support policies for fishermen to boost up fishing capacity, offshore fishing. It will advise new shipbuilding, offshore fishing, seaman training, crew insurance, etc. It also will also apply scientific advancements to fishing activities like horizontal sensing, net winches, and satellite communication devices.
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