Binh Duong vows open, transparent climate for investors (Illustrative image. Source: VNA)
Binh
Duong (VNA) –The southern province of Binh Duong pledges to
ensure an open and transparent business environment and provide optimal
conditions for investors, said Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee
Tran Thanh Liem.
At a meeting with foreign investors on September 26, Liem said the province
will continue improve the investment climate to raise its competitiveness and
increase support for businesses’ development.
It
will focus resources on completing socio-economic infrastructure, expanding
industrial zones, training human resources, building social houses for workers.
The locality will develop high quality services to meet demands of enterprises
while ensuring political security, social order and safety, he added.
The local authorities also answered all questions raised by investors related
to social and medical insurance, taxes, natural disaster prevention and control
of funds and overtime shift.
Liem said that ideas related to legal issues at the meeting would be collected
and submitted to the Government in order to help enterprises solve problems.
The province reported that it had attained 140 percent of its annual target in
foreign direct investment (FDI) during the first nine months of the year.
The provincial Department of Investment and Planning said total FDI in the
first nine months of the year stood at nearly 1.97 billion USD, a jump of 27
percent compared with the same period last year.
During the period, the province attracted 148 new projects valued at a total of
1.165 billion USD.
Another 87 projects added capital of 765 million USD, according to the
department. About 90 percent of the projects are in industrial zones.
Binh Duong has a total of nearly 3,000 FDI projects, worth over 27.7 billion
USD from 60 countries and territories.
“The provincial investment environment has improved towards sustainable
development. The advantageous fields in the province such as the electrical
power industry, electronics, mechanics, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and service
and trading (and others) have attracted investors,” said Nguyen Thanh Truc,
Director of the Department of Investment and Planning.
“The number of foreign investors visiting Binh Duong to study the investment
environment has increased significantly year on year,” he said.
In order to create a better investment climate, the province’s leaders and
authorities work regularly with investors to learn about their difficulties and
help them solve problems. This is the second time that the province has met
with investors this year.
Truc said that during the past years, Binh Duong had invested in
infrastructure, especially the transport network, which facilitates connections
with HCM City, the Mekong Delta, the Southeast region and southern Central
Highlands.
Many important transport routes have been invested and put into operation such
as Binh Duong Boulevard and My Phuoc – Tan Van, which connects industrial parks
with seaports and airports.
The industrial parks, new urban areas and services are highly developed to
better serve investors.
Currently, the province has 28 industrial parks with a total area of over
10,560 ha and 71 percent of rental rate. It also has 11 industrial clusters
with total 802 ha with a 55 percent rental rate.
The province has also approved a master plan for industrial park development.
By 2020, there will be 34 industrial parks with total area of nearly 15,000ha.
An industrial – service – urban complex has been established on an area of
4,000ha with a total of 400,000 residents. The complex has spurred development
of new urban areas in neighbouring localities for the Bau Bang service and
urban area.
Binh Duong is located in the centre of the southern key economic zone, the most
dynamic region of the country. It is a strategic traffic gateway between the
Central Highlands region, central provinces and HCM City.
FDI is an essential source for the province’s socio-economic development and
economic structure.
Last year, FDI contributed over 49 percent of total social investment, over 67
percent industrial production value, and over 82 percent of export turnover to
the province.-VNA