Hau Giang sounds clarion call for FDI

Lu Van Hung (right), Secretary of the Hau Giang Party Committee, granted investment certificates to investors at Hau Giang Investment Promotion Conference 2017, Photo: Huymh Bien

HOW HAS HAU GIANG FARED IN ATTRACTING INVESTMENT SINCE IT WAS FOUNDED 15 YEARS AGO?

Le Tien Chau, Chairman of the Hau Giang People’s Committee

In the past 15 years, with active support from the central government and lucid guidance from provincial leaders in investment promotion, Hau Giang has posted important achievements in domestic and foreign investment attraction.

Up to now the province has courted 29 foreign-invested projects worth more than $485 million in total committed capital, including 15 foreign-invested ones with $314 million in total registered capital and 14 joint ventures valued at $171 million. These projects came from 10 countries and territories including Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, the US, and Japan. Hong Kong has taken the lead among foreign investors with four projects worth more than $281 million in total committed capital.

As for domestic investment, the province is home to 493 projects valued at a total VND123.9 trillion ($5.39 billion). Noticeable improvements were recorded in business registration as in recent years the province has granted business registration certificates to 4,981 businesses valued at VND46.8 trillion ($2.03 billion) in total registered capital.

Hau Giang is currently home to one hi-tech agricultural zone, two industrial zones (IZs) and eight industrial clusters (ICs), of which the Song Hau IZ space has been entirely occupied by investors. Meanwhile at all the ICs, industrial factories have been put into operation. The ICs under direct management from the Hau Giang Industrial Zones Management Authority have attracted 45 investors with 50 projects, providing jobs to 23,000 labourers.

The investment landscape in Hau Giang has been significantly improved in recent years thanks to the presence of large-scale projects such as the shrimp export processing plant of Minh Phu Seafood Processing JSC, a freshwater production facility with a daily capacity of 800,000-1 million cubic metres; Aquaone Water Supply JSC, a brewery by Masan Group which produces beer under the While Lion brand; and Vincom trade centre by leading private group Vingroup.

On the list are also Tien Thinh Agricultural Processing Ltd, which produces fruit juice for export in Phung Hiep district, and the 5,200-megawatt Song Hau 1 thermal power plant which is slated to begin a test run next year.

Along with those, FLC Group, Dat Xanh Group, and the Institute of Vietnam Organic Agricultural Economics have engaged in creating procedures for investment into organic agriculture and new urban area projects in the province.

WHAT FACTORS HAVE LED TO THE PROVINCE’S ROSY INVESTMENT PICTURE DESPITE A RELATIVELY-SHORT 15 YEAR LIFESPAN AND THE REMAINING LIMITED ­INFRASTRUCTURE CONDITIONS?

More and more investment projects have landed in Hau Giang, and businesses have increased in both number and quality of operation. These results came by virtue of Hau Giang’s constant efforts to improve the business climate, increase support for companies, and applying effective investment promotion both at home and abroad.

As of now, the administrative procedures for carrying out investment in Hau Giang have been simplified to ease business operations. Particularly, the time to provide registration certificates was reduced to 1.5 days from the regulated three days and for changing business registration contents to 0.5 days; the time to approve investment proposals has been reduced to an average 15 days from 32 days; and the time to provide investment certificates reduced to two days as opposed to the former five days.

In the industry and trade field, the time to provide food safety certificates and the certificates on petroleum trading was reduced to an average of three days, from a much longer 15 days.

In addition, Hau Giang has applied the one-stop shop mechanism in processing administrative and investment procedures and approved online licensing in several fields such as business registration, construction and land issues.

Hau Giang also charms investors by virtue of specific incentives on offer. Accordingly, seven out of its eight district-level administrative units are the areas specified as especially difficult for socio-economic development, so that investing in these areas is subject to enjoying the highest incentives in tax and rental rates.

Investors will receive the highest benefits in terms of incentive support policies. The province is penning the policy to attract investment into agriculture, rural areas and the Hau Giang hi-tech agriculture zone in light of the government’s Decree No.57/2018/ND-CP issued on April 17, 2018 and Decree No.98/2018/ND-CP issued on July 5, 2018.

In addition, the investors operating in priority sectors as agriculture and hi-tech will be entitled to other incentives such as land rent exemption or exemption for land use purpose changes.

WHAT SECTORS DOES HAU GIANG FOCUS ON ­ATTRACTING INVESTMENT ­CURRENTLY?

To lure investment into important fields having the potential to create breakthroughs in socio-economic development, on October 11, 2018, the Hau Giang People’s Committee enacted a wish-list of six major projects which will be piloted in attracting investment under significantly shortened investment licensing process.

Accordingly, within seven days of investors sufficiently submitting application documents, they will receive investment certificates.

The six projects include infrastructure development for Nhon Nghia A IC over 100 hectares with a total investment capital of about VND500 billion ($21.7 million); building a resettlement area for Nhon Nghia A IC over 43.7ha with an investment of about VND350 billion ($15.2 million); building a new urban area in Chau Thanh A district’s Mot Ngan town over a 102ha area with total capital of about VND816 billion ($35.5 million); implementing a model large-field project in Vi Thuy district’s Vi Thanh commune (the investor and farmers jointly co-operate) over 216ha with capital of about VND216 billion ($9.4 million); developing a high-tech agriculture zone in Vi Thuy district’s Vi Dong commune over 209ha with about VND418 billion ($18.2 million) in investment; and infrastructure development for Tan Tien IC over 56ha at VND280 billion ($12.2 million) in total.

Besides this wish-list, the province is focussing on luring investment into hi-tech agriculture and green tourism such as Nga Bay floating market, Lung Ngoc Hoang nature reserve, and Mua Xuan agriculture centre. The province has also instructed the Hau Giang Department of Planning and Investment to join hands with relevant agencies and local areas to work on presenting another investment wish-list for enactment in 2019 and beyond.

WHAT MEASURES WILL THE PROVINCE PRESENT TO HELP IT FURTHER APPEAL TO INTERESTED PARTIES IN THE UPCOMING TIME?

We will focus on implementing several measures to attract investors. The measures cover accelerating construction and perfecting infrastructure of ICs; intensifying efforts for training quality human resources to meet the growing need of businesses; increasing publicity and transparency in the investment licensing process at local authorised agencies, and furthering administrative procedure reforms, along with much more.