The Doveco Gia Lai fruit and vegetable processing centre - the largest of its kind in the Central Highlands. Photo baovemoitruong.org.vn

GIA LAI -- The People's Committee of Gia Lai Province has published a list of 166 projects that are calling for domestic and foreign investment this year.

Of the total, 91 projects are in the industrial and energy sectors; 28 are in infrastructure development; 16 in sports, culture and tourism; 15 in agro-forestry-fisheries; nine in seafood and agricultural processing; and seven in the production of construction materials and consumer goods.

Larger projects which need investment include the 210ha Gia Lai Border Gate Economic Zone and 31ha industrial cluster in Đắk Khoa District, valued at VNĐ500 billion (US$21.5 million) each; an urban area in An Tân District, capitalised at VNĐ900 billion ($39 million); a $26 million fruit processing plant in Pleiku City with an annual capacity of 100,000 tonnes; and a 3ha animal feed production factory, worth $13 million.

Others include a 210ha hi-tech forestry project, valued at $21.5 million, in Mang Yang District, and two other hi-tech farming projects worth a combined $126 million in Pleiku City and Chư Prông District.

Covering 15,500 sq.km, Gia Lai is the country’s second largest province and has a population of more than 1.4 million, including 14 ethnic groups.

The province’s favourable location and the development of the Cambodia-Laos-Việt Nam triangle, including the Lệ Thanh international border gate adjoining Cambodia’s Ratanakiri Province, makes it convenient for trade.

In recent years, the province had reformed administrative procedures and public services to create the best conditions for investors, local authorities said.

Besides Government mechanisms and policies, the province had created its own policies and mechanisms to create favourable conditions for investors and businesses to make long-term investments, they said.

Last year, the provincial People's Committee granted licences to 53 investment projects with total registered capital of VNĐ8.2 trillion. Ten of them, worth VNĐ560 billion, have gone into operation. -- VNS