Long An seeks to attract investors to its industrial zones

A view of Thai Hoa Industrial Zone in Long An Province. The province creates many conditions to attract more investors. - VNS Photo

They account for half of the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta province’s $4 billion annual trade, it said in a report.

Long An, which neighbours HCM City, has 28 industrial zones (IZs) and a similar number of industrial complexes (ICs), some operational and others under construction.

The 25 that are operational have attracted over 1,000 domestic and foreign projects worth over US$5 billion.

Phan Nhan Duy, director of the province’s Department of Natural Resource and Environment, said the number of industrial zones and complexes have kept increasing in the province, and the focus is now on quality instead of quantity.

The province is now soliciting investment in them, he said.

Thai Hoa Industrial Zone in the Duc Hoa III Industrial Zone, for instance, offers incentives such as tax holidays and flexible land leasing policies to attract high-tech companies. To be invested since 2014, the zone now has attracted over 80 foreign and domestic investors.

With an area of over 100ha, the zone is planned to become a modern industrial zone in the province. It has been now an ideal destination for foreign and domestic investors to have plant here and then export their goods to many neigbouring markets of Laos, Thailand and Cambodia.

Truong Van Trieu, head of the Long An industrial zones management, said many other IZs too are striving to offer the best incentives and facilities to investors.

But projects in the zones should be environment-friendly, he underlined.

The province does not welcome projects that harm to the environment, he said.

Long An has the highest economic growth rate of all provinces in the delta. It has good transport infrastructure and borders Cambodia.

Its average economic growth in the 2012-20 period is estimated at 13 per cent a year.