Door opened to investment in Ninh Binh projects

The local Department of Planning and Investment’s (DPI) Inspectorate Division said last week that investment certificate of Ninh Binh Steel Concrete Joint Stock Company’s five hectare project to produce concrete pipes and power poles in Ninh Phong district had been withdrawn. The project was licenced in 2005.

The Ninh Binh People’s Committee also revoked the investment licence of the project to build the 2,185 hectare Dong Thai ecotourism area in Yen Mo district. Despite being licenced in 2005, the project has failed to be implemented.

The other three projects involved in tourism and real estate, were licenced in 2008, but showed little progress, said the inspectorate division head Pham Van Thanh, adding that the total investment capital of five withdrawn projects was about $50 million.

“We have many times asked them to accelerate implementation of the projects, but they refused, saying that they were cash-strapped due to the long economic crisis,” Thanh said.

He said the local authorities had given the investors all possible preferential conditions about land sites, investment procedures and infrastructure such as roads, electricity and clean water supply. But, these projects became infeasible several months after they were licenced.

“We cannot wait for them any longer because they have badly affected the province’s investment environment, while the project’s sites are also coveted by other investors,” Thanh said.

Some foreign and local investors had asked the local authorities to implement their projects on such reclaimed areas, according to the DPI.

Thanh said that the local authorities would continue conducting inspections of all investment projects licenced in the province this year to examine how their investors’ commitments were being implemented.

“Any delayed projects will have their investment licences revoked. We want to create a sound investment environment in the province. In fact, many investors have intentionally refused to implement their projects because they are waiting for opportunities to illegally transfer their projects’ land for profits,” Thanh said.

In the last three years, the local authorities revoked the investment certificates of other 13 delayed projects. These include Quang Tinh’s 1.5ha mineral exploitation project in Gia Vien district, a 3ha mineral exploitation project in Tam Diep town, a 15ha traditional craft production project in Nho Quan district, Hop Phat Real Estate Joint Stock Company’s resort in Gia Vien district and Cat Tuong Company Limited’s project to build an export-oriented garment factory in Yen Ninh town. The project sites have already been given to other potential investors.

At present, Ninh Binh is home to 413 domestically invested projects and 23 foreign-invested projects with total investment capital of $285.2 million. In 2010, the province licenced three foreign-invested projects, with total investment capital of $20.2 million.