From a central budget-dependent province, Vinh Phuc has emerged to as of the biggest budget collectors in the country. The State budget revenue rose from VND114 billion in 1997 to over VND1 trillion in 2002 and reached the point of spending and collection balance from 2004. The value was estimated at VND28.5 trillion in 2016 (nearly 251 times more than that in 1997). These achievements came from the insight of the provincial government right after the province was re-established. The province has attached much importance to attracting investors and developing businesses in the light of the philosophy “investors are citizens of Vinh Phuc and the success of enterprises is the success of the province.
Breakthroughs in investment attraction and business development
An official from the Vinh Phuc Investment Promotion Agency (IPA Vinh Phuc) said, by treating investors in a friendly and open manner right from the start and treating them as family members, Vinh Phuc province has emerged as an investment magnet in northern Vietnam. Many big corporations have located their projects in the province, including Honda, Toyota and Piaggio. The latest report indicated a breakthrough in investment attraction of Vinh Phuc. The province had only eight foreign direct investment (FDI) projects and one domestic direct investment (DDI) project in 1998 and 856 projects in 2016, including 227 FDI projects 629 DDI projects.
In addition to drawing foreign investment, Vinh Phuc province defined that domestic enterprises, particularly the small and medium enterprises (SMEs), are important force to achieve sustainable development goals. The province issued a series of preferential investment encouragement and business support policies appropriate to each stages of development, particularly Resolution 04/NQ-TU and Plan 4589/KH-UBND on SME development to 2020. Now, 20 years after establishment, Vinh Phuc province has a very strong business force in terms of quantity, scale, structure and quality. The province had 91 enterprises with a combined registered capital of VND57 billion in 1997 and 7,394 companies with a registered capital of VND55.9 trillion in 2016 (an increase of 981 folds), engaged in various industries.
To have these impressive figures of domestic and foreign investment value, "soft" and "hard" infrastructure investment has been aggressively built in Vinh Phuc. The business support apparatus places particular emphasis on improving the investment and business climate with drastic solutions to address difficulties against the business community through the business - government dialogue information portal, communication hotlines, business surveys, dialogues and meetings. The province has stepped up administrative procedure reform, formulated a scheme for improving the investment environment, raising the provincial competitiveness index (PCI), introduced specific solutions to deal with issues arising from land compensation and clearance in major projects, infrastructure investment projects in industrial zones, bettered investment attraction mechanisms and policies to attract investors into industrial zones as well as other places. According to the business community, Vinh Phuc has a relatively good infrastructure system for enterprises and people.
Luring investment capital into industry and service development
Vinh Phuc is making every effort to basically complete the urban infrastructure framework and become an industrial province and one of centres of industry, services and tourism in Vietnam by 2020. The share of services will make up 38 per cent of the economy by 2020, while the share of agriculture, forestry and fisheries will fall to 3-4 per cent and the share of construction and industry will reach 58-60 per cent. A leader of Vinh Phuc province said it is undeniable that effective investment plays an important role in economic development and social security in the province. In the coming time, Vinh Phuc will mobilise all available resources, particularly FDI, for development. Nevertheless, it will not attract investment capital at any cost. Investment attraction must ensure sustainable development, environmental protection and harmonious inclusion of interests of all stakeholders. The coercive termination and relocation of some high-valued projects is evidence for that point of view.
In the coming time, Vinh Phuc province will continue to take industry as an underlying foundation and agriculture as an important actor. The province will focus on developing industries with high added values towards sustainability to become a centre of automobile, motorcycle and supporting industries. Vinh Phuc will selectively license projects using advanced environment-friendly technologies and effectively using land and labour. The province will encourage and offer incentives to foreign investors with high-quality tourism, education, training, healthcare, supermarket and trade centre projects of international standards. Particularly, the province will focus on drawing investment capital to develop tourism and services into key economic sectors in 2016 - 2020. In practice, in recent years, Vinh Phuc has licensed many high-class tourism and service projects such as Flamingo Dai Lai Resort, FLC Vinh Thinh Resort, Tam Dao and Tay Thien. Notably, FLC Vinh Thinh Resort has basically completed the first phase of development and employed many local workers. The project will have an important role in local economic restructuring in 2016-2020. With a view to sustainable economic development, combined economic, cultural and social development, Vinh Phuc province’s investment policies will receive the support of local people and Vinh Phuc province will continue to be a trusted address for domestic and foreign investors.
Hien Nga
Vietnamese
