by Hoàng Nguyên

HCM CITY — The Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Bến Tre cannot compare with south-eastern provinces such as Bình Dương and Đồng Nai in terms of investment conditions or geographical advantages, but it has attracted investors by helping them every step of the way, the director of the province’s Department of Planning and Investment (DPI) Nguyễn Minh Cảnh said.

"The completion of the Rạch Miễu Bridge about a decade ago, which quickened travel time between HCM City and Bến Tre, encouraged investors to come to the province," Cảnh told a press conference in HCM City late last week.

He said that his department and the province’s administration always tried to pave the way for investors and support them as much as possible.

For example, the province now can issue business registration certificates for investors within one day and the time required to verify and grant investment certificates has been reduced by one third, he said.

On the last Saturday of each month, the province hosts a “business café” talk, which is a gathering for enterprises to talk about their difficulties or share their experiences with one another and with administrators to help enterprises solve their problems, he added.

“The DPI always monitors investors’ activities to assist them in a timely manner to overcome difficulties. Not only do we support them during the registration process, but we also help them during their operation in the province.”

To charm investors, Bến Tre has implemented other preferential policies, such as deduction or exemption of land-use fees and corporate income taxes, in some cases up to 15 years.

In addition, strict measures have been adopted to deal with investors that have been granted land-use certificates but failed to implement their projects on time, Cảnh said.

It such a case, their land-use permits will be revoked and given to other investors who are more capable of undertaking the projects, he added.

Since the beginning of this year, Bến Tre has granted investment certificates to 25 projects worth VNĐ17 trillion (US$748 million).

There are 12 other projects with total investment of VNĐ13 trillion waiting to receive certificates before Bến Tre’s investment promotion conference, which is due to be held on July 20, Cảnh said.

More than 450 delegates, including Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc, other Government officials, representatives from international trading and commercial agencies and domestic and foreign investors, will participate in the upcoming event.

According to Nguyễn Hữu Phước, vice chairman of the Bến Tre Province People’s Committee, it “is an opportunity for the province to introduce its economic potential to attract investors for major projects.”

Bến Tre has prioritised calling for investment in 63 projects of 11 sectors including renewable energy, eco-tourism and building infrastructure for industrial parks from now to 2020.

Other key sectors in the province that also need funding from domestic and foreign investors are high-tech agricultural and aquatic products processing, building urban areas and trade centres and solid and water waste treatment, Phước said.

Prior to the conference, another event will be held on July 19 to celebrate the launch of the Bến Tre’s Start-up Community.

The launch of the local start-up community marks the two years since the implementation of the Đồng Khởi Start-up programme enabled by the province.

Nguyễn Thị Hồng Nhung, secretary of the Bến Tre Province’s Hồ Chí Minh Communist Youth Union, said that the programme has focused on promoting entrepreneurship as an effective means for economic growth and a way out of poverty for local people.

After one year of popularizing the programme, 200 business models have been created by young people and 150 creative ideas have been put into practice, she said.

This new start-up community aims to encourage innovation and build a complete start-up ecosystem for Bến Tre, she added.—VNS

Investment call

Bến Tre Province has identified that it needs at least VNĐ6.33 trillion from investors to build infrastructure in 11 industrial parks and industrial complexes.

It now has two completed industrial parks, which are Giao Long 1 and 2 and An Hiệp with total area of 240 ha.

It has also completed planning of three other industrial parks that are ready to receive funding from investors.

The province currently has 54 valid foreign direct investment (FDI) projects with a total registered capital of over $823 million and 137 valid domestic investment projects with a total registered capital of almost VNĐ13.7 trillion.

South Korea is the province’s biggest FDI investor in term of registered capital.—VNS