BÌNH DƯƠNG – The southern province of Bình Dương reported yesterday that it had attained 140 per cent of its annual target in foreign direct investment (FDI) during the first nine months of the year.

In a meeting with investors, the provincial Department of Investment and Planning said total FDI in the first nine months of the year stood at nearly US$1.97 billion, a jump of 27 per cent compared with the same period last year.

During the period, the province attracted 148 new projects valued at a total of $1.165 billion.

Another 87 projects added capital of $765 million, according to the department. About 90 per cent of the projects are in industrial zones.

Bình Dương has a total of nearly 3,000 FDI projects, worth over $27.7 billion 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 Nguyễn Thanh Trúc, director of the Department of Investment and Planning.

“The number of foreign investors visiting Bình Dương 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.

Yesterday, the leaders from the provincial People’s Committee and departments met representatives of more than 60 companies operating in the province to answer all of their questions.

The main topics discussed by the companies were social and medical insurance, taxes, natural disaster prevention and control of funds and overtime shift, as well as other issues.

Along with regular meetings with investors, Bình Dương has continued its strong investment in infrastructure.

Trần Thanh Liêm, chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, 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.

Trúc said that during the past years, Bình Dương 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 Bình Dương Boulevard and Mỹ Phước – Tân Vạn, 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 per cent of rental rate. It also has 11 industrial clusters with total 802 ha with a 55 per cent 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 Bàu Bàng service and urban area.

Bình Dương 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 per cent of total social investment, over 67 per cent industrial production value, and over 82 per cent of export turnover to the province.  VNS