HÀ NỘI — The 2018 Kiên Giang Province investment promotion forum held on Monday was seen as an affirmative undertaking to establish the province’s potential, economic strengths and call for investment.

Phạm Vũ Hồng, Chairman of the Kiên Giang provincial People’s Committee, affirmed at the forum that his local government is dedicated to creating the most favourable business conditions and the highest preferential policy mechanisms to ensure future sustainable socio-economic development.

In giving an overview of the province’s agriculture, forestry, fisheries, mining and tourism sectors, he confirmed that local Government puts great emphasis on implementing strategic breakthroughs, economic restructure, business growth model renovation, raising productivity, efficiency and competitiveness.

Bearing in mind that sustainable economic strength means more business opportunities, Kiên Giang Province is committed to guaranteeing administrative consistency and transparency to ensure investors and enterprises enjoy the provisions of Vietnamese law, said Hồng.

Provincial administrative authorities spoke with investors and enterprises at the forum on future investment key projects in the manufacturing industry and agriculture sector.

Investors were particularly interested in India’s ION Exchange Ltd’s three major projects in the area, from the Cửa Cạn Reservoir with US$71.2 million in investment capital, the Phú Quốc wastewater treatment plant with $119.7 million, to the Rạch Giá wastewater treatment system with about $40 million.

In response, provincial authorities reaffirmed their priority for investment projects in the fields of waste treatment and environmental protection, as a key indication of sustainable development, in addition to well-established areas of hi-tech agriculture, forestry and aquaculture, manufacturing and tourism.

As such, Kiên Giang Province will carry out six more environment-related investment projects worth about $199 million, while simultaneously working on nine industrial infrastructure projects at $280 million, 14 tourism projects at more than $185 million, six urban development projects at $77.9 million and eight agro-aquatic processing projects estimated at $40.9 million.

According to Đào Văn Hồ, Director of the Centre for Trade Promotion of Agriculture under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, total funding for Kiên Giang Province’s 2018 investment promotion activities would be around $515,000, of which State budget support would account for $35,000, leaving the rest to provincial budget and social mobilisation.

According to the province’s Department of Industry and Trade, the 2017 provincial export turnover reached $470 million, focusing on agricultural and aquatic products, exceeding 17.5 per cent of the annual target and up by 34 per cent from 2016’s numbers

The forum’s attendants included more than 120 investors and business representatives from home and abroad, together with delegates from the Indian and Italian General Consulates in HCM City and the Management Board of HCM City’s Agricultural Hi-tech Park. — VNS