Lam Dong Calling for Investment from Japan

5:06:26 PM | 25/12/2012

On December 17th 2012, Lam Dong People's Committee held a conference to promote investment into Lam Dong province, aimed to attract domestic and foreign enterprises, especially from Japan. Themed "Lam Dong - Integration and Development", the conference focused on inviting Japanese firms to invest in the province’s advantages such as high technology agriculture, education- training and tourism.
Opening the conference, Mr Nguyen Xuan Tien, Chairman of Lam Dong province People’s Committee presented the potential advantages, natural conditions, climate, transportation infrastructure and the investment policy of Lam Dong. For sustainable development in the integration period, besides promoting internal resources, the province has identified that attracting investment is very important. Therefore, Lam Dong has been inviting domestic and foreign investors, particularly those from Japan, to learn and invest in the fields of the province’s advantages on the principle of equal partnership.
 
Mr Tien said that although in favour of industrial development, many Japanese firms appear to be interested in tourism and services in the province namely the Dankia - Suoi Vang project. Therefore, at this conference, Lam Dong province also introduced 48 projects calling for investment in the province in the period of 2012 to 2015 which Japanese investors are interested in, focusing on the areas of infrastructure, industrial parks, tourism and trade, agriculture, and urban infrastructure such as: Da Lat City ring road, the Centre for Culture and Sports, Technology Information, Lien Khuong markets and flower exchange, Nam Phuong Park, and Lam Dong Industrial Parks. Especially important is the Expressway project Dau Giay - Lien Khuong connecting Lam Dong province and some southern provinces, with a total investment of about US$2.5 billion. This project plays an important role in the socio-economic development as well as investment in the province.
 
Lam Dong is committed to continuing to improve the investment and business environment, and support investors. Accordingly, the province will focus on improving infrastructure; attaching importance to training human resources; simplifying administrative procedures, implementing one-stop shop (OSS) services; creating maximum conditions for capital access and land clearance to accelerate project implementation. In addition to the preferential policies by the Government, Lam Dong Province has provided incentives for investment, particularly supporting businesses engaged in vocational training, socialization, subsidizing interest rate for investment in the field of agricultural applying high-tech, processing of agricultural products, trade and tourism, and investment promotion support.
 
According to Mr Hida Harumitsu, General Consul of Japan in Ho Chi Minh City, due to ongoing Yen appreciation, labour scarcity, rising labour costs, and a tight domestic market, many Japanese firms have been shifting their investments to Southeast Asia, especially Vietnam. Accordingly, Japanese investment capital into Vietnam is increasing. Specifically, in the first 11 months of this year, Japanese investment in Vietnam accounted for about half of total foreign direct investment in Vietnam (US$10 billion). Mr Hida Harumitsu said that Vietnam in general and Lam Dong in particular should take advantage of this opportunity to attract more Japanese investment. Specially Lam Dong should constantly improve themselves and demonstrate clearly the power to convince the Japanese enterprises to invest; and at the same time, issue support mechanisms for Japanese investors like some provinces in Vietnam have already done, including Dong Nai, Ben Tre, and Da Nang.
 
With the advantage of climate and natural scenery, Lam Dong has strengths for tourism development of various types such as sightseeing, leisure travel, ecotourism, travel under the forest canopy, garden tourism, cultural and sports tourism. Lam Dong also has other advantages such as the mineral potential with 289 mines and 30 different types of minerals with the largest reserve of bauxite; and agricultural production with famous crops such as vegetables, flowers, tea and coffee.
 
Lam Dong is undertaking development planning, accordingly, building Da Lat into a tourism centre and Bao Loc city into the centre of industrial processing of agricultural, forest and mineral resources of the province; developing Economic Corridor Highway 21 attached to the southern key economic region, and the Highway 27 corridor linking the Central Highlands and South Central Coast.
 
My Chau