HÀ NỘI — A meeting between provincial leaders and representatives of 500 enterprises in Nam Định Province was held on October 10.

The meeting was held in the spirit of openness and frankness to remove difficulties and obstacles for enterprises investing in Nam Định.

The Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) of the northern province proposed specialised agencies to reduce the rates of social insurance, health insurance and unemployment insurance premium, as the rates are still high as compared to workers’ wages.

Speaking at the meeting, the association’s chairman, Trần Xuân Ngữ, said banks needed to reduce administrative procedures for SMEs when they borrowed investment capital to develop production and business.

According to Ngữ, investment procedure streamlining in the province was still slow, the process of compensation and site clearance of a number of projects was extended, and the environmental treatment in some industrial parks and clusters was limited, making it difficult for investors.

Jin Kook Kim, general director of Nam Định YoungOne Company Ltd, which specialies in producing and trading clothes, knitwear, textiles and garments in Hòa Xá Industrial Zone, said the price of water had accelerated, so the company expected local authorities to allow them to exploit underground water for production, which would help reduce costs.

In addition, Kim said that there were too many inspections conducted in one year, affecting the corporate operation.

Director of Toản Xuân Company Ltd, Trần Quốc Toản, said the province should research and establish high quality agricultural production areas, build chains of safe veggies, meat, eggs and of special local products.

“The province also needs to organise agricultural trade promotion programmes and give preferential mechanisms for enterprises investing in agriculture and rural areas,” said Toản.

Chairman of Nam Định People’s Committee, Phạm Đình Nghị, affirmed that the province’s viewpoint would always favour enterprises. The province has issued a resolution on reforming administrative procedures, enhancing competitiveness and attracting investment, he said.

The People’s Committee has also established the Nam Định Investment and Enterprise Promotion Centre in order to create an open mechanism for enterprises to invest in the province.

In addition to nine industrial zones, Nghị said the province had zoned 44 industrial clusters to meet the demand for investment and development of production and business of investors. The province would not use the local budget but will call for private enterprises to invest in infrastructure construction.

The provincial agencies shall strictly implement the direction of the Prime Minister over the inspection and examination of enterprises and avoid the duplication in the inspection and audit activities. It is not allowed to inspect a business many times a year, unless there are signs of violations to regulations.

There are 4,800 enterprises in Nam Định. Its set target is to attract US$3 billion of foreign direct investment and more than VNĐ30 trillion ($1.3 billion) from domestic investment in the 2016-20 period. — VNS