LONG AN – Although Long An Province has taken the lead in foreign direct investment (FDI) attraction in Mekong Delta, it is still undertaking different measures to improve its competitiveness and investment climate.

The province’s aim it to become a modern and sustainable industrialised province by 2020. 
Nearly 800 FDI projects worth almost US$6 billion are registered in Long An. Some 500, or 62.5 per cent, of the projects are operational, with about $3 billion already disbursed. 
The projects are concentrated in industrial parks and clusters in key economic districts such as Đức Hòa, Bến Lục, Cần Đước, Cần Giuộc and Tân An City. 
The United Kingdom, China’s Taiwan, Japan and Singapore, as well as the Republic of Korea, and the United States provide the most funds of the 37 countries and territories investing in the province. 
FDI projects are said to have been making breakthroughs in local industrialisation and modernisation, promoting economic restructuring, job creation and settlement of social issues. 
From now until 2020, Long An will give top priority to FDI projects in urban residential area construction, transport, industrial infrastructure, hi-tech agriculture and support industry, according to provincial authorities. 
Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Tran Van Can said more effective solutions are being used to create a favourable investment environment. 
The administration will strictly deal with sluggish projects by cancelling them, resizing the project area to suit investors’ actual capacity or extending the deadline for project implementation. 
It will also restrict permission for projects that may cause serious environmental pollution, reclaim rice farming land or do not match local planning, Can said. 
Long An, 15th on the Provincial Competitiveness Index rankings last year, will step up administrative reforms and put its public administrative centre into use soon to save time and cost for people, businesses and civil servants, the People’s Committee said. 
The province will develop vocational training establishments to improve the local workforce’s capacity, thus meeting enterprises’ employment demand. 
Some 5,000ha of land will be ready soon to accommodate investment projects through 2020. Areas in the districts of Đồng Tháp Mười, Cần Đước and Cần Giuộc will be zoned for hi-tech agricultural activities, according to the provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment. — VNS