Making the Most of Trade & Tourism Potential

Making the Most of Trade & Tourism Potential  

With its advantageous position, Hai Duong province has paid great attention to development of its trade and tourism sectors in recent years and has maintained an overall development plan for the sectors until 2010. 

Trade and tourism achievements

Hai Duong province aims to obtain an export value of US$80 million in 2004, of which, the value in the first ten months stood at US$74.83 million, up 19.65 per cent over the same period last year. The import value in the period reached over US$107.16 million, up 0.17 per cent year-on-year, equalling 107.17 per cent of the year's target.  

The province's total retail sales of goods in the year is expected at VND4,000 billion (US$256.41 million), of which the value in the first ten months was VND3,251 billion (US$208.39 million), up 6.7 per cent. Prices of food-foodstuff, petroleum, fertilisers and construction materials saw high increases. 

Export values of major exports of Hai Duong province: 

Regarding tourism, Hai Duong welcomed 518,000 tourists in the first nine months of the year, up 30 per cent compared with the same period of 2003. Of this number, 26,000 were foreigners, mainly from China and ASEAN countries, a year-on-year increase of 20 per cent. Room occupancy rate was 58 per cent. The sector's revenue reached VND155 billion (US$9.87 million) in January-September, an increase of 33 per cent against the same period last year. To late September 2004, Hai Duong had 62 residences, including six two-star hotels, six one-star hotels and 39 hotels and guesthouses. 

Targets for Development of Trade and Tourism Sectors 

Strongly focusing on the domestic market

Hai Duong province will focus on promoting trade activities and raising effectiveness of those activities in the domestic market to meet the demands of local residents and production requirements, aiming at consuming all goods produced by businesses in the locality to help stimulate production development. The province plans to raise total retail sales of goods and services to VND4,500 billion (US$286.6 million) in 2005 and VND7,000 billion (US$445.9 million) in 2010 and strives to enhance the proportion of the service sector in its gross domestic product (GDP) to 30 per cent in 2005 and 40 per cent in 2010. 

To meet these goals, the province will concentrate on some major plans such as developing rural and mountainous markets depending on the development of markets in urban areas, gradually improving infrastructure for trade activities, restructuring state-owned enterprises in the trade sector and intensifying support for private businesses. 

Boosting import-export activities

Hai Duong is targeted to reach an annual export growth rate of 12-13 per cent in the 2001-2005 period with total export value of US$300 million, and 15-16 per cent in the 2006-2010.  

Some major measures in the coming time: pursuing the development of export-oriented production (initially focusing on some key businesses of the province such as labour-intensive work and foodstuff processing and handicraft businesses), keeping and expanding export markets and intensively applying export support solutions. 

Tapping tourism potentials

The province is striving to make the tourism sector an import economic industry with a targeted average growth rate of 18-20 per cent per year in the 2006-2010 period. The province is estimated to receive 280,000 tourists including 50,000 foreign travellers, earning VND250 billion (US$15.9 million) in 2005 and the figure will be three times higher in 2010. Tourism will contribute to around 5 per cent of the province’s GDP.  

Hai Duong's future plans will focus on completing the construction of major tourism resorts including tourism sites in Chi Linh district and Hai Duong city and An Phu-Kinh Chu resort and eco-tourism garden sites. It will intensify investment in its tourism infrastructure, aiming to have 1,380,000 standardised rooms in 2005; and build a 4 or 5-star hotel with total capital of US$10 million in Hai Duong City, and a 3-star hotel worth US$5 million as well as a US$5-million racecourse in Chi Linh district in the 2005-2010 period. The province’s tourism sector will also focus on promotions and cooperation with other provinces and cities.

• Thanh Mai