10:56:36 PM | 21/9/2015
Forty years after the liberation, and 26 years after its re-establishment (1989-2015), Quang Ngai province has spared no effort to make a comprehensive change in every corner, from the city to the countryside, from the mountain to the delta. High economic growth, positive economic restructuring with higher shares of industry and services has made Quang Ngai province a Top 10 tax collector in the country. In an interview granted to Vietnam Business Forum Magazine, Deputy Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee Pham Nhu So said, "This achievement is a prerequisite for the Party, the government and people of the province to focus on economic restructuring, change growth model, and speed up industrialisation and modernisation to gradually build Quang Ngai province into an economic engine of the Central and Central Highlands regions.” Cong Luan reports.
Could you please introduce remarkable achievements of Quang Ngai province?
Forty years after the liberation and especially 26 years after the re-establishment, the Party, the government and people of Quang Ngai province have attained very significant and comprehensive achievements. The economy secured high growth for many consecutive years. Expanded by over 10 per cent a year, the current GDP was nearly 200 times higher than that at re-establishment. The budget revenue increased 4,000 times. In 2014, tax revenue reached VND28,000 billion (amongst 10 provinces and cities with the biggest tax revenue). GDP per capita climbed 25 folds to nearly VND42 million. The economic structure was shifted towards industrialisation and modernisation, with the share of industry and construction accounting for 64 per cent. Together with Dung Quat oil refinery, VSIP Quang Ngai Industrial - Urban - Service Complex and dozens of big projects created spectacular breakthroughs in local industrial development.
Quang Ngai province is now known to have an open and transparent investment environment that has attracted a lot of big domestic and international investment projects. The province had over 300 investment projects with a combined registered capital of over VND144 trillion as of the end of second quarter 2015, including 36 effective FDI projects with more than US$4 billion of registered investment capital. According to the provincial competitiveness index (PCI) rankings in 2013 and 2014, Quang Ngai belonged to a group of provinces and cities with excellent economic governance quality.
These enormous accomplishments are not only the pride of, but also the impetus for the Party, the government and people of Quang Ngai to add more effort to complete socioeconomic development tasks in 2015 and beyond.
As a central coastal province with a 130-km coastline, Quang Ngai province has huge potential for marine economic development, particularly industrial development (with the advantage of Dung Quat deepwater port) and marine tourism (with Ly Son island district). How has the province tapped these potential and advantages effectively?
Currently, the Dung Quat Economic Zone is considered a pioneering and successful economic zone in the country. This place has ideal deep seaports for the development of petrochemical industry and heavy industries. To utilise this advantage, in addition to operational ports, Quang Ngai province is planning to develop Dung Quat Port 2 to create an attractive ripple effect on investors of heavy industries.
Besides, Quang Ngai province is urgently accelerating site clearance for upgrading and expanding the processing capacity of Dung Quat oil refinery from 6.5 million tonnes of crude oil to 8.5 million tonnes a year. Once completed, the upgrading, which cost US$1.8 billion, will bring the petrochemical industry to a new high and form a national petrochemical industry centre here. Together the Dung Quat oil refinery upgrading and expansion project, the province will carry out other major projects such as US$2 billion Singapore power plant, VSIP - Quang Ngai, crude oil underground storage facility, and Blue Whale gas and power project.
In addition, with a large fishing ground of 11,000 square kilometres and a 130 km coast, Quang Ngai possesses tremendous potential for maritime tourism and maritime economic development. In particular, the province has Ly Son Island district situated on the North-South sea route and in front of Dung Quat EZ Economic Zone, as well as the central key economic zone. With its convenient location and diverse marine resources, especially fisheries development (commercial fishing and aquaculture), well-branded garlic and onion products, and seafood, Ly Son is an attractive destination for many domestic and foreign tourists.
On November 4, 2014, the Prime Minister issued Decision 1995/2014/QD-TTg on a number of mechanisms and policies on development support for Ly Son Island district. Accordingly, the district will receive prioritised central budget for completing key projects and encourage domestic and foreign investors to invest in infrastructure projects in the form of BT, BOT and PPP. Investors with investment projects in Ly Son island district will be entitled to have the highest investment supports and incentives according to the law. On June 3, the Quang Ngai Provincial People’s Committee approved the Ly Son Island district tourism development plan under which Ly Son will be developed into a green, clean, beautiful and civilised urban zone, and an alluring tourist and resort attraction of Quang Ngai province and the South Central Coast. The district will combine marine economic development and marine tourism development with defence zone construction development to ensure national defence and security.
With rich marine potential and advantages, Quang Ngai province has promoted its internal resources, utilised external resources to stimulate investment attraction for industrial and tourism development, aiming to turn Quang Ngai into a modern industrialised province by 2020.
After Dung Quat Port Complex 1 is filled, Quang Ngai province was permitted by the Prime Minister to plan Dung Quat Deepwater Port 2. Would you mind telling us more about the detailed plan, roles and significance of Dung Quat Deepwater Seaport 2 for heavy industry development of Quang Ngai province?
The operation of Dung Quat Deepwater Seaport and Dung Quat Economic Zone has created breakthroughs in socioeconomic development of Quang Ngai province and created development drives for the central key economic zone. However, the current port cluster has become cramped. Hence, the construction of the second facility is essential as transit demands are on the rise.
Before this reality, to advance its growth nucleus role in the Central Coast and Central Highlands, the Prime Minister approved the expansion plan of Dung Quat Economic Zone (from more than 10,300 ha up 45,300 ha) together with the development of Dung Quat Deepwater Port 2 and the formation of Dung Quat 2 Heavy Industry Complex. The Quang Ngai Provincial People’s Committee hired a consortium comprising of Nikken Sekkei Civil Engineering Ltd, Port Construction Consulting Joint Stock Company and Port & Waterway Engineering Consultant Joint Stock Company (TEDIPORT) to plan the Dung Quat Port 2. The port is capable of accommodating ships of 250,000-300,000 DWT. It will handle 37 million tonnes of cargo by 2025 and 100 million tonnes by 2030. But, the province will invest to build Vo Van Kiet Road (second phase), carry out Doc Soi - Dung Quat Port traffic routes, Tri Binh - Dung Quat Road, and Tinh Phong - Dung Quat 2 Road.
Dung Quat Economic Zone is gradually expanding its boundary towards the south. As planned, Dung Quat Industrial Park 2, covering nearly 2,820 ha, is designed for petrochemical refining, chemical, manufacturing, shipbuilding, steel rolling, thermal power and supporting industries associated with Dung Quat Port 2. This will be a decisive factor to form Dung Quat Heavy Industry Complex 2 in association with Chu Lai Airport to shape the growth engine for Quang Ngai in the coming time, on the way to being a modern industrialised province in 2020. At present, Quang Ngai province is calling both domestic and international investors to invest in Dung Quat Port 2 and Dung Quat Industrial Park 2 to attract investors of heavy industries to the province.
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