Localities take on irksome admin process

Quang Ninh province is boosting its administrative reform to attract more investment, photo Le Toan

Nghe An People’s Committee is lauding a record time to approve and license a foreign-invested project.

On August 1, the province granted approval for a $165 million electronics project from Innovation Precision Vietnam Co., Ltd., under China’s Shandong Innovation Group.

The 11.8-hectare project will manufacture aluminium alloys and related items for electronic goods; forged, stamped, pressed, and rolled metal, and more besides. The factory is expected to enter operation in October 2024.

Chairman of Nghe An People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Trung said, “It took only two weeks from field surveys to issuing the final decision. In addition, it took only one week to approve the project’s admin procedures instead of 15 working days as normal, the shortest time so far in the province.”

The central province is implementing synchronous solutions to enhance the effectiveness in foreign-invested capital attraction, which focus on supporting and accelerating the process to approve projects, Trung added.

Along with Nghe An, the northeastern province of Quang Ninh is also a well-known locality for quick licensing of projects. In late June, Foxconn Singapore received investment certificates for two projects worth $250 million just 12 hours after the investor submitted an online application. This process typically takes 15 working days.

The projects include the $200-million FECV Quang Ninh factory, which focuses on manufacturing and assembling electronic components, electric chargers, and electric vehicle charge controllers. It is expected that the factory will be put into production in January 2025. The other complex is the $46 million Quang Ninh FMMV Factory, which manufactures and processes different components for tech devices.

“The exploit of licensing within 12 working hours is the result of the extreme careful preparation of the investors and the detailed guidance of the provincial authorities,” said Cao Tuong Huy, Acting Chairman of Quang Ninh People’s Committee.

“Foxconn is a prestigious investor in Vietnam, and so the province saves time in appraising the financial potential and feasibility of the project. Normally, if a major new investor expressed the intentions in the province, we would take a long time to study them in order to avoid pie-in-the-sky ventures,” Huy said.

Shortening the licensing time still ensures the compliance of regulations and the compromise of departments and relevant authorities, Huy stressed. “The province commits to accompany the investor during the construction progress and resolve difficulties, including on days off,” he said.

Chau Nghia Van, deputy general director of Foxconn Group in Vietnam, said, “Quang Ninh is where the group chose to deploy important production projects. These decisions are based on the natural socioeconomic conditions as well as management and direction capacity of the locality.”

Reforming procedures is a priority of central government. In early August, the government’s Steering Committee for Administrative Reform requested ministries, sectors, and localities to proactively and promptly supervise the system of legal normative documents, identify any issues and obstacles, and assign relevant agencies to resolve them within specific deadlines.

At the same time, the prime minister issued a reform plan for the second half of 2023, aiming to simplify 13 major groups of admin procedures. This work at localities will be given strength from a working group on admin procedure reform led by Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang. The working group is responsible for assisting the PM in directing tasks and solutions to reform such procedures and strengthen policy response capacity. The group is also responsible for putting forward solutions to handle legal bottlenecks raised by individuals and businesses.

PM urges streamlining administrative procedures, paving way for transport projects Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh asked ministries, agencies and localities to work harder in order to pave way for transport projects, saying administrative procedures should be streamlined, while concluding a meeting of the State steering committee for national key transport projects in Hanoi on April 12.