QUẢNG NAM — Organic farming, hi-tech agriculture, tourism and services – these are the key growth areas for Quảng Nam Province, Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc said yesterday.

He said the central province use its two world heritage sites – Hội An City and Mỹ Sơn Sanctuary, as well as other attractions like a 124km long coastline and the world biosphere site Chàm Island, to build itself as an international recreational and tourism centre.

The PM was addressing a conference held in Tam Kỳ City, Quảng Nam, on investment in the central province. The conference was attended by more than 1,000 participants including investors and  representatives from financial institutions.

Phúc said Quảng Nam has great potential in terms of its natural resources, human resources and connectivity (airport, seaport, roads, railways and the national Expressway systems).

He said the province has to make a plan for the next 20 years for hosting a large number investors and tourists. It should have a transparent legal framework and a strong commitment to ensuring favourable conditions for foreign investors.

“The key for opening the door to success in the province is raising the quality of human resources, boosting creativity among the community and developing flexible mechanisms and policies to support investors and businesses,” Phúc said.

He felt the province should be more prominent on the world tourism map. International standard recreational and sports events are yet to be organised in the province, he said.

Phúc also urged the province boost connections between key economic zones in neighbouring provinces of Quảng Ngãi and Đà Nẵng so that a complex of key industry and service centres is established in the coastal central region.

He reminded listeners that Hội An was once a busy trading port in Asia 300 years ago, and the province could reclaim a similar reputation in the coming decades.

He emphasised that the province must guarantee full conditions and demand prolonged investment from foreign investors in the future.

He hoped that Quảng Nam would become a powerhouse in economic development.    

Also at the conference, the province presented investment licences to 32 projects with a total registered capital of US$15.8 billion.

Six commercial banks in Việt Nam also agreed to provide loans worth VNĐ26 trillion ($1.1 billion) to 10 projects in the central province.

The province officially launched yesterday its first “one-stop shop” for all administrative and investment procedures.

Major investment projects

Thus far, Quảng Nam has attracted 135 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects with a registered capital of nearly $5.5 billion, the conference heard.

It also heard that the Vinpearl Jsc has started construction of the Vinpearl Quảng Nam Resort Complex on 179ha in Thăng Bình District with a total investment of VNĐ4.8 trillion ($212 million).

The Trường Hải Company, in co-operation with Japanese car producer Mazda, has started construction of the second Mazda plant in the province with total investment of VNĐ12 trillion ($520 million).

The second Mazda plant will produce 100,000 cars for both domestic and export markets.

The local car maker and its partners have invested $6 billion in the Trường Hải-Chu Lai Industrial Complex since 2003.

 

Many investors took part in the conference held yesterday in Quảng Nam Province. VNS Photo Công Thành

Two automobile makers – Hyundai Motors of Korea and France’s Peugeot – have agreed to co-operate with Thaco to make minibuses and commercial car models, Đỗ Xuân Diện, head of the Chu Lai Open Economic Zone, told Việt Nam News yesterday.

The project will straddle the two coastal communes of Bình Dương and Bình Minh, and its first phase should begin operations in the third quarter of 2018, he said.

Last year, the province commenced work on two major projects – the $4 billion Nam Hội An Integrated Resort, invested by VinaCapital and Gold Yield Enterprises Corporations, and a $535.3 million expansion of the Trường Hải-Chu Lai Mechanical Automobile Industrial Zone.

The Chu Lai Open Economic Zone, which opened in 2003, has so far attracted a total of 109 projects, 29 of which are foreign invested, with a combined registered capital of more than $1.52 billion. Sixty-six projects worth more than $837 million are in operation, creating 12,000 jobs for locals.

The Việt Nam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) is also planning to build a fibre-weaving and dyeing garment complex with a total investment of VNĐ1.5 trillion ($71 million) in the central province.

Thaco chairman Trần Bá Dương said his company alone has invested VNĐ28 trillion ($1.24 billion) to build a logistics centre, car production factories, a vocational training college, a sea port and storage system, as well as a shipping service in Quảng Nam.

Dương said the complex earned total revenues of $2 billion last year, contributing VNĐ13.8 trillion ($610 million) to the State budget and creating 8,000 jobs for locals.

Two Korean-invested companies – Panko Tam Thang and Duck San Vina –began work in 2015 on projects with a total investment of $80 million in Tam Kỳ City’s Tam Thang Industrial Zone (IZ).

Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Đinh Văn Thu, said 91 textile and garment companies, operating in the province, produced products worth VNĐ2.9 trillion ($138 million) in 2015.

He said the province has called for more investment and co-operation from foreign partners in developing supporting industries.

The province has so far developed 19 industrial parks and complexes on a total area of 4,700ha.

It has invested VNĐ825 billion ($39 million) to dredge the Tam Hiệp and Kỳ Hà ports, providing access to 20,000 DWT cargo ships.

It has also launched the new Chu Lai-Incheon (South Korea) sea route.

Airport upgrade

The Chu Lai Airport in the province will be upgraded to handle 2.3 million passengers and 1.5 million tonnes of cargo by 2025.

Nguyễn Hồng Quảng, provincial Party Secretary, said the airport project will help make the province a key destination and logistics centre for foreign investors in the central region, and link the economic zones of Quảng Nam, Quảng Ngãi and Đà Nẵng.

He said budget carrier VietJetAir and US partner Parsons Brinckerhoff have proposed a master plan for upgrading the airport in three phases: from now until 2020, 2020-2025 and beyond 2025.

He said the first phase, implemented with VNĐ2.5 trillion ($111 million) from the provincial budget, will allow the airport to host two million passengers per year.  

He said a feasibility study of the project was carried out with funding from the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA).

Chu Lai Airport, which was built as an airbase during the war in the 1960s, opened to commercial traffic in 2005. — VNS