Quality investment continues at pace for Thai Nguyen

In the last year many new projects have been initiated in Thai Nguyen

With a conducive investment and business climate, Thai Nguyen is now home to more than 7,000 businesses working across the board with nearly VND100 trillion ($4.34 billion) in the total capital value.

Now, the province wants more large projects to be implemented in the province, offering more opportunities and helping businesses in the province grow stronger. Such events would ultimately contribute to building Thai Nguyen into one of the major development hubs of the northern midlands and mountainous regions by 2030, in alignment with resolutions laid out at the 20th Provincial Party Congress for the 2020-2025 term.

In late March, former Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc received Ingolf Schroeder, managing director of Austrian-based microchip stand producer AT&S, which manufacturers the products for use with AI, semiconductors, and high-tech equipment.

In the meeting, AT&S executive shared the idea of finding a viable investment location for the company’s billion-dollar investment project.

The company intends to build two manufacturing facilities with a total capital value of $1.8 billion in the first phase, and hopes the government will support the company for successful implementation of the project once Vietnam was chosen as the most favourable location to land the project.

A project manager at AT&S described his appreciation for Thai Nguyen, one of a few locations that the Vietnamese government has recommended to the company, leveraging a raft of favourable factors that the province possesses, encompassing fairly developed infrastructure, quality human resources, and convenient transport in both road network and air route.

Despite COVID-19’s dragging impacts, last October Thai Nguyen granted investment certificates to two foreign-invested projects. They were a $203 million project on renewable energy development from US investor Trina Solar with the scale of 256 million items per year, and a $23 million for building an industrial gas production plant, both based in the province’s Yen Binh Industrial Zone (IZ).

Also in October, Yen Binh Investment Development JSC and Hong Kong-based DBG Electronics Ltd. signed an in-principle agreement on land leasing at Yen Binh IZ to carry out a project on electronic items production and assembling. The project consists of two phases with $120 million in the total registered capital.

According to Thai Nguyen Industrial Zones Management Board, so far this year the province’s IZs have granted investment certificates to 14 new projects (four foreign and 10 domestically-invested), valued at $347 million and nearly $28 million respectively.

Up until now, the province’s IZs are home to 250 investment projects, with 123 projects coming from foreign investors and 127 projects from local investors, valued at nearly $8.8 billion and more than $707 million respectively. As of now 160 projects out of the 250 ventures have come on stream, generating more than 90 per cent of the province’s total industrial production value.

Based on recently-announced investment outcomes, the province ranks third countrywide on the Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index and 11th on the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI), reflecting Thai Nguyen’s commitment to welcome and provide utmost support to investors wishing to set up shop in the province.

These outcomes show that despite bearing the adverse impacts of COVID-19, Thai Nguyen continues to place high on investors’ radar thanks to the constant efforts from the province’s management at all levels.

The genesis of such success began almost a decade ago when the provincial Party Standing Committee enacted Directive No.19-CT/TU in 2012 on strengthening leadership in implementing measures to improve the PCI ranking.

Based on the directive, the committee more recently enacted Resolution No.09-NQ/TU in early 2019 on improving both the local business environment and PCI ranking. Shortly after, Thai Nguyen People’s Committee gave birth to a plan of measures in order to realise Resolution 09.

“The spirit of providing utmost possible support to investors and businesses is now pervading across local management agencies at all levels. Along with this, leaders of different sectors, branches, and local areas are making efforts to simplify procedures or willingly join meetings with businesses and investors even at weekends or on festive occasions if necessary,” said Nguyen Trong Hieu, deputy director of Thai Nguyen Department of Planning and Investment.