3:42:22 PM | 13/7/2011
Over the past time, Thai Binh has built a chain of attractive and transparent mechanisms and policies as well as boost reform of investment procedures, so that the province’s investment environment has been significantly improved. Thai Binh’s competitiveness index jumped from the 50th in 2009 to 22nd position in 2010. To find out the province’s results of attracting investments and prospects in the coming time, reporter Ngo Khuyen made an interview with Mr Tran Xuan Thanh, Director of the provincial Department of Planning and Investment.
Could you tell us about the outstanding results of investment attraction over the past time?
By boosting a series of investment promotion activities, Thai Binh has gained a number of achievements. During the period of 2001-2010, the province attracted 491 direct investment projects with total registered capital of VND58.89 trillion, including 47 foreign projects totalling VND5 trillion; 164 projects into industrial parks and complexes accounting for VND13 trillion. An investment project into Thai Binh has average registered capital of VND120 billion, recruiting 256 laborers and owning 2.3 hectares of land.
The quality of investment projects has also increased. In the phase of 2001-2005, a majority of project had small scale with low technologies and usage of numerous laborers. However since 2006, the number of bigger-scale projects with advanced technologies and less consumption of fuel has increased. A number of outstanding projects are Shengli steel limited company with capital of VND390 billion; the Hanoi-Thai Binh Beer & Brewery with total capital of VND408.985 billion; the Dam San II fibre weaving plant with VND296.87 billion and the MIKADO brick plant with VND205 billion.
The investment fields have also become various. If between 2001 and 2005 the projects were mainly in the fields of garments; construction materials; glass, glazed terra-cotta and porcelain, since 2006 the projects have expanded to other sectors such as mechanics, electricity and electronics, steel lamination, processing of agricultural products, construction of infrastructures like trade center, supermarkets, wholesale markets, urban areas and private hospitals.
Basically, the number of industrial parks and complexes are full. The province is planning for construction of new ones and submitting the scheme of a coastal economic zone with an area of 30,583 hectares to the government for approval.
The impressing results from investment attraction has contributed to push up the province’s economic growth. In the period of 2001-2005, Thai Binh’s GDP increased 7.5 per cent per year on average. The percentage in the phase of 2006-2010 was 12.04. The industrial production value in 2001-2005 increased by 17.3 per cent yearly and climbed to 25.2 per cent in the next five years. The structure of agro-industry-service moved actively, respectively 53.6 per cent-14.7 per cent-31.7 per cent in 2000, 41.8 per cent-24.1 per cent-34.1 per cent in 2005 and 34 per cent-33 per cent-34 per cent last year.
Besides achievements, the province still has difficulties in investments attraction. Which do you think the reasons are?
Except the outstanding achievements, the province’s investment attraction also met with challenges. For example, a majority of investment projects into Thai Binh, including many foreign ones, were small. There were only 44 projects having registered capital of over VND100 billion. Some of them used low technologies and a large number of laborers, leading to the low added value and budget payment. Others were not friendly-environmental. The investment projects also concentrated on some certain areas such as Thai Binh City, Tien Hai district and the area along Highway 10.
The reason of the situation is attributed to the province’s geographical character with three sides next to rivers and the remaining one being contiguous sea. Thus, the transportation and infrastructure system has not yet been invested comprehensively. In addition, the provincial economy mainly leans on agriculture while the industry has not yet developed, mainly sub industries and craft villages. Annually Thai Binh often suffers from natural disasters like storms and floods. Recently, the global economic recession has caused a lot of difficulties for the province’s investment attraction.
Could you talk about orientations and solutions to boost investment attraction into the province in near future?
Resolution of the 18th provincial party congress has offered targets as well as solutions for the socio-economic development in order to bring Thai Binh to develop towards the industrialization, modernization and construction of new countryside. The province has targeted the GDP to grow 13.5 per cent per year in the period of 2011-2015. Thus, the investment attraction work needs to focus on specific plans as follows:
Investment Target: The investment capital of projects by 2015 will increase 40 per cent against last year. Industrial parks and complexes will have to attract over 80 per cent.
Investment Fields: The province will give priority to high-tech and large-scale projects as well as projects which are significant to the socio-economic development and pay higher to the budget. In terms of industry, the provinces focuses on projects of processing agricultural products, medicine, electronics components, accuracy mechanism and supporting industries. The province still works with the oil and gas sector to push up the project of bringing gas from Blocks 103, 104 to the Tien Hai industrial park. The province will speed up the construction of provincial Electricity Centre to possibly work in 2014 and plan to allow the Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin) to explore and pilot exploitation of coal at the coal basin in Northern Delta. The project of NH3 and nitrogenous fertilizer production is being promoted, contributing to boost the industrial value. The province will limit garments projects in the city and towns. Regarding agriculture, the province will give priority to high-tech projects and encourage the model of farms to provide pigs and poultry as well as aquatic livestocks. For the services, the province will continue to develop ecological tourism sites at Con Vanh and Con Den, and the Dong Chau Sea Street, recreation projects, trade centers, supermarkets at urban areas, and housing projects for workers of industrial parks.
Thai Binh will combine comprehensively lots of solutions. Firstly, the province will recheck and adjust a number of mechanism and policies to call on and encourage more investors, particularly those in the field of infrastructures. The province is focusing on complete infrastructures of the five industrial parks approved by the government including Gia Le, Cau Nghin and Tien Hai industrial parks in parallel with calling for investments into Song Tra, Cau Nghin, Tien Hai IPs and some coastal industrial parks in Thuy Hai and Thai Thuong. Relating to the investment environment, the province is striving to reform administrative procedures, follow the mechanism of one door, solve difficulties of enterprises, particularly in site clearance.
Thai Binh also pays attention to the attraction of foreign investments from Japan, Singapore, Australia, South Korea and Taiwan. The province plans to spend from 100 hectares to 300 hectares for foreign investors and create favorable conditions for them to call on secondary investors. For domestic investment, the province will give priority to groups, general companies to develop major projects. The province also aims at encouraging small and medium enterprises to move to industrial complexes in order to transfer production structure and solve jobs for locals.
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