Kon Tum's Investment Attraction: Impressive Figures

The Central Highlands province of Kon Tum has focused on administrative reform and improved its business environment to attract more investors. However, it has just gained its first results and needs further efforts for sustainable economic development.

 

From now to 2015 and a vision to 2020, the province will concentrate on developing three key economic zones of Kon Tum town, Bo Y Border Gate Economic zone and Mang Den eco-tourism resort. This will be a driving force for the province to tap its potential and create new opportunities for cooperation between the locality with the central and Central Highlands region and the country as a whole. With the goals, local districts have actively carried out investment promotion programmes and invite big investors to implement its projects.

 

Despite facing difficulties at the beginning of the investment promotion campaign, the province has seen positive results in attracting foreign investment. Since 2006, as many as 170 investors, businesses and economic organisations inside and outside the country have looked for investment opportunities in the province in the potential areas of agriculture, hydropower, tourism and mineral exploitation. The local agriculture pulled in 25 projects, mainly focusing on forestation for paper materials and growing Ngoc Linh inseng, Acanthopanax persimmon, fruit and vegetable, tea, husbandry and aquatic breeding. The agricultural projects of note are invested by the Vietnam Rubber Corporation and Hong Kong-based InnovGreen Company’s 65,000-hectare paper material project. Besides, experts from Taiwan’s Pingdong University have met with provincial authorities to seek cooperation in the agriculture sector. Currently, Duy Tan Ltd. Co. is carrying out a project to grow rubber trees and productive forests in the province. Meanwhile, Dak Lak Rubber Company’s material forest project is also under way in Kon Tum. Many other investors are surveying locations for their projects. To date, investors have registered to build 65 small and medium-sized hydropower plants totaling over VND8 trillion in the locality. Among those, seven are under construction, comprising Dak Po Ne 1, Dak Po Ne 2, Dak Ne, Dak Re, Dak Psi 3, Dak Psi 4 Dak Ter 1and 2. The three projects have become operational, expected to made remarkable contribution to the province’s socio-economic development in the near future.

 

Bo Y Border Gate Economic Zone has so far lured many domestically and foreign-invested projects, including Bo Y international trade centre worth VND296 billion, a five-star hotel valued at US$800 million and particularly, the project to build Bo Y international airport worth US$6 billion invested GIEC, Malaysia’s Sem Tech and Singapore’s MC Group. The consortium has completed all initial investment procedures to advance the airport project’s first phase scheduled from now to 2011. Local businesses and Dak Su commercial and service cooperative have invested some projects in the economic zone. Hoa Binh Industrial Park has attracted 23 investment projects capitalised at nearly VND1 trillion with 21 projects costing VND450 billion registered for the park’s first phrase and two valued at VND515 billion for the second phase. Among those projects, two have invested in infrastructure business, hoped to improve the province’s transport infrastructure.

 

To date, Mang Den eco-tourism resort has pulled in 37 projects totaling VND3.459 trillion. Among those, eight worth VND107.4 billion have been kicked off. The key economic zones are seen as the province’s momentum for economic development which aims to increase industrial ratio and lower the ratio of the agriculture.

 

Kon Tum is trying to lure investors, sharpen its competitiveness and promote its image. These efforts are hoped to make the province’s investment attraction picture more positive.