HÀ NỘI — Deputy Prime Minister Trịnh Đình Dũng spoke at a conference on Friday in Quảng Ngãi Province on investment and development cooperation, intended to introduce investors to the area in hopes of attracting further socio-economic development.

Addressing local agencies and businesses representatives at the conference, Dũng praised their work towards trade and investment progress, and asked provincial leadership to develop policies to assist investors in future projects.

In the period of 2017 to 2020, Quảng Ngãi aims to attract more than US$4.2 billion in investment in prioritised sectors and industries, such as industrial and supporting industrial production, logistics, urban infrastructure construction, seaports and maritime services, tourism and high-tech agriculture.

In response, Trần Ngọc Căng, Chairman of Quảng Ngãi Provincial People’s Committee announced the commencement of 14 new industrial projects in the region’s key economic zones. The projects include a Vinamilk dairy farm, a facility for OFB Mộ Đức organic agriculture chain and Phúc Hà- Dung Quất plastic production plant.

Căng also expressed the province’s hopes to increase links with other provinces in the Central Highland to strengthen regional development.

The province hopes to channel between $2.5 to 3.5 billion into Dung Quất Economic Zone and other key provincial industrial parks, in order to speed up the implementation of big projects such as the Hòa Phát - Dung Quất Iron and Steel Complex, the VSIP Quang Ngai Industrial-Urban-Service Complex and the expansion of the Dung Quất oil refinery.

Other incoming projects include collaboration with Singapore’s Sembcorp Marine Limited on a potential gas power plant, as well as the development of a gas distribution system from the Blue Whale oil field with PVN Group to supply nearby industrial zones.

In order to achieve its goals, the province has issued preferential mechanisms and policies to support investors, with financial incentives including discounts on land purchases and rebates for infrastructure investments.

The province has also identified three key tasks of agricultural development, rural construction and sustainable poverty reduction, by prioritising service, tourism and marine economy development.

As of October 2017, Quảng Ngãi is home to four industrial parks, 15 industrial clusters and craft villages, 45 FDI projects with total registered capital of $1.4 billion and 392 domestic investment projects with total registered capital of over $9.17 billion.

Provincial breakthrough missions until 2020 include industrial development, transport and urban infrastructure construction, and human resource quality improvement.

The Deputy PM also shared in the difficulties that Quang Ngãi is facing, including low product quality and a declining ranking on the Provincial Competitiveness Index (CPI).

Quảng Ngãi Province is strategically located in the Central Highland key economic region, with a population of nearly 1.3 million people, across 14 districts and cities over an area of ​​more than 5,000 square kilometers. The province features diverse natural ecosystems, suitable for the development of agriculture, industry, tourism, service and marine economy.

The conference in Quảng Ngãi Province was attended by more than 400 representatives from domestic and international businesses, together with officials from central and local administrative agencies. — VNS