An overview of Quang Ninh province (Photo VNA)
Quang Ninh (VNA) – The People’s
Council of the northeastern border province of Quang Ninh has approved a
project proposing the establishment of Van Don special administrative-economic
unit at its sixth meeting of the 13th tenure in Ha Long city.
Secretary of the provincial Party Committee
Nguyen Van Doc said after the Politburo announced a project on rapid and
sustainable socio-economic development and the pilot construction of Van Don
and Mong Cai special administrative-economic units in October 2012, the
province has actively coordinated with relevant ministries and centrally-run agencies
to build a project in the field.
Based on the Conclusion
No 21-TB/TW issued on March 23, 2017 by the Politburo on projects building Van
Dong special administrative-economic unit (in the northeastern province of Quang
Ninh), Bac Van Phong (in the south central coastal province of Khanh Hoa), and
Phu Quoc (in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang), the three localities
have joined hands to build a draft law on special administrative-economic
units, which was submitted by the Government to the ongoing fourth session of
the 14th National Assembly for further discussion.
The Van Don special administrative-economic unit
project defines key industries of tourism-service, industry and agriculture.In the first phrase (2018-2022), the project
will focus on casino entertainment tourism, seaport, aviation, trade,
international shopping centers, innovation technology, and start-up centers,
while the second phrase (2023-2026) will feature parks, fisheries, aquatic
processing, logistics services, education and training, financial services, and
healthcare. The third phrase (2027-2030) will aim at biological technology,
green technology, and hi-tech agriculture.
Van Don is a district comprising more than 600
islands. It is approximately 175 km from the capital city of Hanoi, 80 km from the
northern port city of Hai Phong and 50 km from Ha Long city. It boasts rich ecosystems, beautiful beaches
and islands, which hold a lot of potential to become a world-class maritime
tourism destination.
Special administrative-economic units are magnet
for investment, high technology and advanced management mode for the formation
of a high growth area that generates more resources and accelerates local
economic restructuring and development.
The Ministry of Planning and Investment, which is in charge of drafting the Law on Special
Administrative-Economic Units,
expected that with preferential incentives, the three special zones – Van Don,
Bac Van Phong, and Phu Quoc – would attract investment worth dozens of billions
of dollars, which would generate huge sums in terms of added value and boost
average income to 12,000-13,000 USD per capita.
It estimated that the special zones would contribute billions of dollars in
taxes and fees to the State budget.
Vietnam has 17 coastal economic zones, 26 border economic zones and 328
industrial zones, which altogether have attracted some 153 billion USD
investment, accounting for 52 percent of registered foreign direct investment
in Vietnam, created three million jobs and contributing 42 percent to
industrial production and 52 percent of exports.
Globally, there are some 4,500 special economic zones in 140 countries, and
most countries have laws regulating these zones, according to the ministry.-VNA