Localities set sights on foreign-invested project windfalls

The northeastern province of Quang Ninh has decided to establish a task force whose ultimate job is to lure in large-scale foreign-invested enterprises as soon as 2025.

Vice Chairman of Quang Ninh People’s Committee Bui Van Khang, who was appointed the head of the task force, immediately organised a meeting to assign work to members.

“To build a detailed and specific project to pull in foreign investors, departments and relevant authorities need to determine the specific sectors and the portfolio of schemes calling for funding. In addition, the task force will combine detailed targets about capital volume for each specific schedule, attached with specific solutions,” Khang said.

The province will also organise investment promotion events in developed countries to approach groups that own source technology or lead supply chains, Khang added.

The task force is assigned to compile specific and detailed criteria to lure investors and submit to the committee before the end of the year.

To enhance competitiveness in attracting such capital, Quang Ninh has collaborated with other localities such as Haiphong, Hai Duong, and Hung Yen to build economic links based on promoting the potential and advantages of each locality, increasing the growth rate, and forming a growth pole in the Red River Delta.

When united, the four localities could boast the conditions to form a dynamic economic development area that includes a large international seaport in Haiphong, land and sea border gates with the China in Quang Ninh, an international airport, and abundant human resources.

This is one of a series of programmes to realise the Eastern Expressway Economic Connection Cooperation Agreement that was signed in July 2022 by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the four localities.

Elsewhere, Hanoi, Nam Dinh, and Bac Giang are also focused on attracting high-tech projects with large amounts of capital, in tandem with Haiphong.

Vice Chairman of Bac Giang People’s Committee Phan The Tuan said, “The province spends priority selecting large projects with the direction of sustainable development with zero pollution and high technology. It will also focus on developing the eco-industrial system to engage funding methodically.”

Production line of Hana Micron Vina at Van Trung Industrial Park, Viet Yen district (Bac Giang), Source: tapchicongthuong.vn

With that direction, Bac Giang is gaining momentum. Last week, South Korea’s Hana Micron Vina Co., Ltd. inaugurated a semiconductor plant in the northern province. The new venture, located in Van Trung Industrial Park, is the second Bac Giang-based factory from Hana Micron Vina, which manufactures integrated circuit boards used for mobile phones and other smart electronic products.

The first factory came into operation in 2022. With the second factory, Hana Micron Vina’s total investment in Bac Giang has reached nearly $600 million.

Chairman Choi Chang Ho said Hana Micron Vina plans to increase its total fundingt to over $1 billion by 2025, generating annual revenues of $800 million and creating 4,000 jobs for Vietnamese workers.

Meanwhile, Ho Chi Minh City wants to entice 50 high-tech projects worth $3 billion by 2025, according to the city’s Department of Planning and Investment.

To realise this, the city crafted a plan for this decade in which the city expects strategic investors to pour an average of VND30 trillion ($1.26 billion) into manufacturing initiatives and at least VND3 trillion ($126 million) in research and development (R&D) centres.

Tran Viet Ha, deputy head of Ho Chi Minh City Export Processing and Industrial Zones Management Authority, said the city wants to see more ventures in the digital economy, electrical tech, semiconductors, and high-tech agriculture, among others.

“The city is also expanding available land for larger groups. At present, more than 10 industrial real estate developers, such as LOGOS and Techtronic Industries, are interested in developing industrial parks in the city,” Ha said.

In June, the National Assembly approved pilot implementation of specific policies for the development of the city, which took effect in August. According to the plan, companies can make a 150 per cent additional deduction for expenses related to R&D. Regarding criteria, the city’s portfolio of industries and professions to pull in strategic investors in innovation facilities and R&D centres, as well as in tech transfer in IT, biotechnology, automation, new material tech, and clean energy, is valued at around VND3 trillion ($126.5 million).

In addition, priority projects include investment in the semiconductor integrated circuit industry, design technology, component manufacturing, integrated electronic circuits, flexible electronics, chips, battery technology, and more with capital of VND30 trillion ($1.26 billion) upwards.

Hana Micron Vina launches pioneering semiconductor factory in northern Vietnam Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang launched the Hana Micron Vina semiconductor plant in Bac Giang, a pioneering project with future plans to invest over $1 billion and create 4,000 jobs by 2025.

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