Long Hậu Industrial Park in Long An Province. Long An pledges to create the most favourable conditions for domestic and foreign investors and businesses. — Photo Longhau.com.vn

Xuân Hương

HCM CITY — This month Masan MEATLife, a subsidiary of Masan Group, commissioned the VNĐ1.8 trillion (US$77.6 million) MEATDeli Saigon Meat Processing Complex in Long An Province.

Situated in the Tân Đức Industrial Park in Đức Hòa District, the plant is designed to process 140,000 tonnes of chilled pork and 15,000 tonnes of other products such as braised pork, pork rolls, shredded pork, and others annually in the first phase.

The second phase will expand the capacity to 25,000 tonnes a year and enable production of 14,000 tonnes of pork by-products such as blood flour, plasma, collagen, and meat and bone powder.

Its processing line was supplied by Dutch company Marel, the world leader in meat processing equipment, and includes an automation system with three robots. It is considered the most modern meat processing and slaughter facility in the country.

The province has also seen several other big-ticket projects get under way in recent times.

Đồng Tâm Group opened the first phase of the Long An International Port in Tân Tập Commune in the province’s Cần Giuộc District and at the same time began work on the second phase of the project.

The 147ha port is being developed in three phases at a cost of nearly VNĐ10 trillion ($430.7 million). It will have seven wharves able to receive ships of up to 70,000DWT. More than 400,000sq.m is earmarked for warehouses to store farm produce, steel, fertilisers, and other products from the Mekong Delta.

The port is seen as key to reducing traffic congestion and logistics costs in Long An and the Mekong Delta.

In May TIZCO Joint Stock Company and Việt Nam Innovation Parks Management Corporation broke ground for the 1,800ha Việt Phát Industrial Park, one of the country’s largest IPs.

According to province leaders, the series of large projects that have come to Long An recently, especially amid the Covid-19 pandemic, are expected to greatly contribute to socio-economic development and prove the attractiveness of the province to investors.

Trần Văn Cần, chairman of the province People’s Committee, said with its location in a prime spot in the Southern Key Economic Region, Long An serves as a bridge between HCM City and the delta.

It achieved annual growth of 9.11 per cent on average in the 2016-20 period, among the highest in the country, he said.

Its economic structure continues to shift quickly towards industrialisation and modernisation and per capita income has topped VNĐ72.6 million ($3,130), among the highest in the delta.

“The provincial government has determined that administrative reform, improving the business environment, enhancing competitiveness, and supporting enterprises are among its key tasks.”

Since 2017 Long An has remained in the top group in the Provincial Competitiveness Index.

It tops the delta in attracting FDI with total registered capital of $6.5 billion so far, and also has 2,000 local companies with combined capital of VNĐ230 trillion ($9.94 billion).

According to the province People's Committee, Long An has 16 industrial parks and 21 industrial clusters with occupation rates of 87.3 per cent and 89.7 per cent.

To further attract investment in the coming time, especially FDI investment, the province has focused on developing infrastructure  at selected industrial zones and clusters and expects to open them this year.

People's Committee vice chairman Nguyễn Văn Bé said the province would continue to solicit investment in infrastructure in industrial parks and elsewhere.

The province wants to attract investment in industrial parks and clusters and has prioritised projects involved in the supporting industries, hi-tech agriculture, seafood processing, and among others.

In recent years the province had focused on improving the quality of education and training to provide the market with a more skilled workforce, he said.

Huỳnh Văn Sơn, director of the province Department of Planning and Investment, said every year activities were undertaken to promote investment, trade and tourism in key markets such as Japan, South Korea and the US.

In addition, infrastructure developers at industrial parks and clusters also directly sought investors to invest in their facilities, even sending delegations abroad to solicit investment, advertising in the media and participating in conferences to provide information about industrial parks.

Cần said, “Long An will create the most favourable conditions for domestic and foreign investors and businesses.”

“The province’s motto is ‘your difficulties are also our difficulties, your success is also our success’.” — VNS