Red Sand Dunes, one of the unique attractions of Bình Thuận Province’s Mũi Né Town. — VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY — The south-central province of Bình Thuận has strived to improve its infrastructure and offers numerous incentives to investors, its leader has said.

Nguyễn Ngọc Hai, chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said in addition to the Government’s incentives, the province had a number of specific mechanisms and policies to attract investment in its industrial clusters with a focus on supporting investors during the process of implementing their projects and regularly organising dialogues with them to promptly resolve difficulties.

It also continued to review and amend regulations related to the investment environment, business registration, land, capital, construction permits and taxes to simplify them.

It was especially focused on creating a one-stop-shop for administrative procedures in many fields.

Amid the regional and international integration, Bình Thuận Province wished to attract domestic and foreign investment and promote its potential in all fields, especially tourism, processing, renewable energy and high-tech agriculture.

To further exploit its potential, the province would focus on investments in high-class tourism, urban areas, residential areas, processing and manufacturing industry, and renewable energy.

It would also solicit investment in smart agricultural projects to adapt to climate change and building value chains in cultivation, husbandry and processing in the high-tech agricultural zone.

A Government plan envisaged making the province, which was situated close to the Southern Key Economic Region and had diverse resources, 19km of coastline, strong winds and plenty of sunshine, into a national energy centre with a total capacity of over 12,000MW by 2020.

In 2018, its electricity output was 13.56 billion KWh, 40 per cent up from 2017.

Businesses had registered to invest in 108 renewable energy projects -- 88 solar power and 20 wind power -- in the province with a total capacity of about 6,858MWp and at a cost of over VNĐ175.9 trillion (US$7.58 billion).

Of them, 26 solar power projects and 13 wind power projects with a combined capacity of 1,832MWp had begun operation.

According to the province’s zoning plan for industrial parks and industrial clusters, by 2020 it would have nine industrial parks and 34 industrial clusters with a combined area of 4,092ha.

So far, six industrial parks and 14 industrial clusters had been built.

The province was focusing on projects with modern technology and were environmental-friendly in these industrial parks and clusters.

Investment flows into the province had increased significantly in the past two years when it approved 264 projects with a total registered capital of VNĐ53 trillion ($2.28 billion).

According to the province administration, a lot of investment has been made in transport infrastructure.

Vĩnh Tân international port, which opened last April, can accommodate ships of up to 50,000DWT.

The North-South Expressway in the east of the province is expected to be ready in 2020-21.

The province will see the construction of three expressways, Dầu Giây-Phan Thiết, Phan Thiết-Vĩnh Hảo and Vĩnh Hảo-Cam Lâm, start by the end of this year.

Phan Thiết airport will be built in the near future. — VNS