Binh Phuoc Province Offers Red Tape Welcome to Investors

The investment environment of Binh Phuoc province has improved comprehensively after the province was re-established ten years ago. Despite having fewer advantages than other localities within the key southern economic region, Binh Phuoc has achieved good results in investment attraction since 1997. According to the Binh Phuoc Department of Planning and Investment, the investment continues to flow into the province.

 

Vu Thanh Nam, director of the Binh Phuoc Department of Planning and Investment, said that after Binh Phuoc province was re-established, it had five State-owned enterprises and 176 private enterprises registered to operate with a total capital of VND 35 billion. Most of the enterprises were small and medium-sized. They operated in trade, farm-produce processing, and handicraft making. The province had no foreign-invested enterprises. Since the local authorities have applied open policies, the number of enterprises in the province has witnessed a sharp increase.

 

Statistics show that since 1997, the province has added 1,410 private enterprises. In particular, since the Enterprise Law took effect, the number of enterprises has increased significantly. Since 2000 alone, the number of newly registered enterprises reached 1,306 or 187 enterprises per annum on average, tripling the previous figures. Also, according to Nam, Binh Phuoc has licensed 31 foreign-invested projects with a total registered capital of more than US$100 million. The province now has 13 State-owned enterprises with a total registered capital of VND 1,162 billion after they were restructured and reorganised. The average capital volume of each Vietnamese enterprise increased from VND 200 million when the province was re-established, to VND 2 billion in the 2000-2005 period and VND 2.7 billion in 2006. The average figure is US$3 million for each foreign-invested enterprise. The province has two foreign-invested enterprises with their capital reaching more than US$15 million.

The results prove a good economic development in Binh Phuoc over the past ten years, to which Vietnamese and foreign investors have made a significant contribution. Apart from creating jobs for 38,000 people in 2006, the enterprises contributed around 70 per cent of State budget revenues in Binh Phuoc, or a four fold increase against 1997.

 

Evaluating the investment environment of Binh Phuoc province, Lee Chung Keun, general director of C&N Vina of the Republic of Korea, said apart from giving more incentives than other localities, Binh Phuoc should make further efforts to attract investors by taking concrete measures to help investors overcome difficulties. Lee went on to say that many industrial parks, such as Dong Nai, Long Thanh, Nhon Trach and Amata, had many comparative advantages, so Binh Phuoc province should issue more priority policies for investors, considering them an important part of the province’s economy. The director of Auntex said Binh Phuoc’s investment environment was good to attract investors.

 

Hong Hsien Pao, director of the 100 per cent foreign-owned company of Sinh Huy of Taiwan, said that in the future Binh Phuoc would become an attractive destination for investors thanks to its convenient location, abundant human resources and comprehensively improved infrastructure facilities. With these advantages, Binh Phuoc may gain the same development level with other localities in the key southern economic region, such as Binh Duong, Dong Nai, and Ba Ria-Vung Tau.  

Binh Phuoc has witnessed a change for the better but it is just a beginning for a new development step. This is because Binh Phuoc province has huge potential. There are projects calling for Vietnamese and foreign investors such as the Ba Ra-Thac Mo ecotourism project in Phuoc Long district, the Suoi Cam Lake entertainment area in Dong Xoai town or the 38 Bridge tourism site in Bu Dang district. In particular, in the coming future, the Hoa Lu international border gate economic zone will be formed in Loc Ninh district to act as a gate for trade and economic exchange with Southeast Asian countries. In the future, the trans-Asia railway route will go accross the economic zone.

 

To continue to attract investment, Binh Phuoc will concentrate on developing infrastructure, especially roads and water supply and drainage systems in Chon Thanh, Dong Xoai and Dong Phu for industrial production. At the same time, the province will prepare a cleared land fund of 3,296 hectares for industrial development. The local authorities will develop master plans for industrial parks and complexes, promoting the building of infrastructure facilities for them. Also, the province will have to promote investment by organising more seminars and forums. Clearly, in this period of time, the investment environment in Binh Phuoc province has become more attractive, like other localities nationwide. With this development tempo, Binh Phuoc can meet all requirements of investors.

 

The province has formed eight industrial parks with a total area of more than 2,100 hectares, which have attracted many big projects in hydro-electric power and cement. These include the Binh Phuoc Cement Plant with a total investment of US$300 million, which will be completed in late 2007; the Srok Phu Mieng hydro-electric power plant with a capacity of 51 megawatts, the Can Don hydro-electric power plant with a capacity of 72 megawatts, and the Thac Mo hydro-electric power plant with a capacity of 150 megawatts, which has officially connected with the national electric grid. At the same time, Binh Phuoc province has made a breakthrough in exploiting on the spot materials to develop construction material production.

 

In the 2006-2010 period, Binh Phuoc will strive to bring its average GDP growth rate to between 14 and 15 per cent in 2010, increasing the contribution of its industry to between 27 and 30 per cent; services, around 29 per cent; and reducing the contribution of agriculture to between 45 and 41 per cent. To that end, Binh Phuoc will promote its economic restructuring, focusing on technological and scientific application. In particular, the province will co-operate with Ho Chi Minh City and other localities within the key southern economic region to develop mechanisms and policies for foreign investment attraction.

 

At a seminar on investment attraction, which was organised recently by the Binh Phuoc People’s Committee in co-operation with the Ho Chi Minh City branch of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) on the occasion of the 10^th anniversary of the province’s re-establishment, Heather C. Variava, economic consul at the Ho Chi Minh City-based US general consulate, said to attract more investors, Binh Phuoc should improve its investment promotion and market expansion. At the same time, the province should develop policies on human resources development.

 

At the seminar, Nguyen Tan Hung, chairman of the Binh Phuoc People’s Committee, said the province committed to continue its administrative reform, removing procedures which hamper the province’s socio-economic development, providing its maximal support for enterprises, when they invest in the land of historical relic sites, including Bom Bo village, Bu Dang, Dong Xoai and Bu Gia Map. Binh Phuoc has offered red tape welcome to investors, said Hung.