Quang Ngai has made great strides in all fields, and confidently affirmed its position in the central key economic region and the whole country. In particular, the province is also a reliable destination for domestic and foreign investors as it has an increasingly open, transparent, friendly business investment environment.
Remarkable bright spots
When it was re-established, Quang Ngai was a poor agriculture-based province with a low starting point. Agriculture, forestry and fisheries accounted for a large share of the economic structure, while industry and services were not yet developed. Weak socioeconomic infrastructure and per capita income were low. The province had only 43 State-owned industrial companies of small scale and more than 7,700 small-scale handicraft producers, with 90% being individual households that mainly produce traditional products in small output and low price. Up to now, more than 5,096 enterprises are active in industrial fields and industries.
It can be seen that the time of Quang Ngai re-establishment fell on the enforcement of the Law on Foreign Investment (1987). The access and initiative in the formulation of investment attraction mechanisms and policies was limited. Starting in 1995, Quang Ngai had only one small-scale foreign investment project (FDI) project (US$420,000). In 2006, the province’s FDI attraction leaped when Doosan Vina Group invested US$315 million into a heavy industry project in Dung Quat Economic Zone. This was considered an important turning point in an effort to court FDI investors to Quang Ngai and clearly showed local potential. At the same time, in November 2005, the Dung US$3 billion Quat oil refinery was officially kicked off, becoming the first of its kind in Vietnam. This project helped empower not only Quang Ngai but also lift economic development in other localities in the central key economic region.
To date, the province attracted 63 FDI projects with a total registered capital of nearly US$1.8 billion, including 31 operational projects, which employ more than 18,000 workers and contribute to labor restructuring towards industrialization, technology transfer and experience sharing. It drew 518 domestic investment projects with a total registered capital of more than VND230 trillion (US$10 billion), involved in many fields.
30 years after re-establishment, nearly 500 industrial projects, factories and complexes of large scale, high capacity, high added value and high scientific and technological content have been formed, including Dung Quat oil refinery, polypropylene plastic factory, Doosan Vina heavy industrial equipment factory, GE electrical equipment factory and electronic equipment plant which not only meet the domestic market but also export their products to nearly 20 advanced countries in the world. Besides, light industrial products and foodstuffs made by Quang Ngai Sugar Joint Stock Company like Vinasoy soy milk, refined sugar, Thach Bich mineral water, Bicafun confectionery, processed seafood, apparels, cassava starch, wood chips, construction materials, leather footwear and cotton yarn, have increased production output and consumption in both domestic and foreign markets. In 2017, Hoa Phat - Dung Quat Steel Complex, kicked off with a total investment of VND60,000 billion to churn out 4 million tons of steel a year, rolling out the first products in the beginning of 2019 to mark a new step in the province's industrial development.
Beside investment attraction policies for manufacturing, Quang Ngai has also given special attention to drawing investment projects for industrial infrastructure development. The formation of VSIP Industrial - Service - Urban Zone affirmed the province’s viewpoints, guidelines and orientations. It has so far attracted nearly 20 secondary investment projects from nine countries. These FDI projects not only contribute positively to local socioeconomic development but also contributed to widely boost the reputation of Quang Ngai, aiming to attract more investors from the world to province.
Focus on investment project quality
Wooing many domestic and foreign investors to seek investment opportunities, deploy projects and succeed in business is a vivid testament to the appeal of the investment and business environment of Quang Ngai province to businesses and investors. Ms. Tran Thi My Ai, Director of Quang Ngai Department of Planning and Investment, said that this success resulted from the province’s focus on improving and increasing the investment and business environment in the past years. Quang Ngai province issued and enforced many mechanisms and policies to shape an environment and create favorable conditions for investors in the province. Provincial leaders often meet, talk, listen, motivate and accompany businesses and investors and see their success as the success of the province; press on stronger administrative reforms to streamline administrative procedures to reduce the time for this work for investors. Quang Ngai has recently inaugurated and operated the single-window public administrative service center, helping reduce the time from preparing investment procedures to operating their projects to achieve the best business results in the shortest time.
According to Ms. Tran Thi My Ai, in 2019, Quang Ngai province will pay attention to drawing project quality, actively support enterprises to deal with existing difficulties and obstacles to accelerate the progress of project deployment and provide favorable conditions to court and invite investment projects into the province. It will convince existing investors to enhance investment quality and performance. It will unlock local advantages and potential, shorten the development gap with other localities in the region by cooperating in economic development and ecological environment protection, effective use of land and sustainable development. Quang Ngai will concentrate on attracting quality investment projects by giving priority to industry, logistics, supporting industries, urban infrastructure, tourism - service, high-tech agriculture; agricultural and rural development investment projects, high-value agricultural product projects; and projects that have strong impacts on local economic restructuring, social security and environmental protection. Special attention will be paid to projects that make production inputs to replace imports in order to form a link between FDI enterprises and domestic enterprises, while creating a foundation for the development of local supporting industries.
For domestic investment, Quang Ngai province attaches special importance to promoting investment and supporting local investors to be assured of expanding production, thus convincing new investors to the province. At the same time, we also persuade major domestic corporations and investors to bring their projects to Quang Ngai. For foreign investment, in 2019, the province targets projects from Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, the United States, France, Germany and Belgium, and other nations.
Cong Luan
Vietnamese
