Vinh Phuc invests technical infrastructure to lure investors

Vinh Phuc is building out technical infrastructure to become a more welcoming investment destination

Located close to Hanoi and owning 18 IZs (IZs) and 32 industrial clusters, Vinh Phuc is improving its investment and trade environment, enhancing its competitive capabilities to attract investment.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a marked impact on socio-economic development in the province, disrupting the operations of enterprises as well as foreign investors’ plans. Numerous companies had to lay off employees due to a lack of orders, which caused a plunge in revenue and profit. Other businesses had to deal with a lack of experts and skilled employees due to Vietnam’s policy suspending foreign entry.

In the first six months of the year, the pandemic has caused a decrease in foreign-invested capital in the province. Notably, investors registered only $135.6 million, only a third of last year’s figure, in 14 newly-registered and 19 existing projects.

In order to help enterprises overcome their difficulties and prepare to welcome new investment after the pandemic, the province’s leaders assigned departments and relevant authorities to implement solutions to support businesses. Notably, the province organised numerous meetings, seminars, and working sessions with investors and enterprises to discover their difficulties. In addition, the province entered into a co-operation with the State Bank of Vietnam to build supporting policies for businesses, including decreasing loan interest and extend debt payment deadlines. Besides, the Department of Taxation supported enterprises to extend the deadline for tax payments and the fee for land rental.

Furthermore, the provincial People’s Committee asked localities to implement synchronised solutions to deal with investors’ difficulties by removing administrative bottlenecks for newly-registered projects, supporting enterprises investing in infrastructure at industrial parks and clusters by accelerating land clearance and compensation in order to accelerate the construction progress.

The province has also completed a report on the investment planning for a series of IZs, including Tam Duong I, Lap Thach I and II, and Nam Binh Xuyen. It is also building dossiers to submit the construction plan of Song Lo 2 IZ to the Ministry of Planning and Investment for appraisal and then submit it to the prime minister for approval.

Vinh Phuc Industrial Park Authority has built the detailed planning of Khai Quang IZ while urging investors to complete procedures to accelerate the development of Son Loi IZ and sign a management contract with partners in Ba Thien IZ.

“The province is actively trying to accompany investors to overcome difficulties and will create favourable conditions in administration procedures as well as technical and transport infrastructure, assuring investors looking to set up or expand operations in Vinh Phuc,” said Nguyen Van Tri, chairman of Vinh Phuc People’s Committee.

“The province is also paying attention to developing urban and apartment projects to create stable accommodation for workers and experts, including affordable apartment projects,” Tri said.

Vinh Phuc People’s Committee also assigned the Department of Planning and Investment as well as the Investment Promotion Agency to organise investment promotion programmes. Notably, the province issued the investment promotion programme for this year and organised a conference to analyse the component indices of the province’s Provincial Competitiveness Index 2019 and discuss improvements during this year and upcoming ones.

In addition, during social distancing, representatives of departments made suggestions and supported investors via social networks like Zalo to both comply with the isolation policy and implement online investment promotion activities. Furthermore, the province continues to reduce the time it takes for investors to complete procedures to set up business, register business online, and publish administrative procedures as well as the province’s planning to ensure full transparency.

In general, the province has received particular praise for its workforce training, the safety of its legal institutions, and the pioneering role of local governance, all of which are drawing attention from long-term investors. This explains why local and global giants, especially Europe and America, are keen on the province. One of the outstanding success stories is Piaggio which has two plants in the province. The other is De Heus, a high-quality European animal feed producer, one of the five largest animal feed manufacturers in Vietnam that is making extensive contributions to the agricultural development of not only Vinh Phuc but the whole country.

In addition, many global corporations such as Toyota, Honda, Daewoo, and Sumitomo have invested in Vinh Phuc, focusing mainly on the fields of processing technology, manufacturing, electronic assembling and industrial zones infrastructure.

Vinh Phuc currently has 392 foreign-invested projects with the total registered capital of $5.57 billion, from 18 countries and territories in the province.