Progress in attracting foreign direct investment

Updated: 19:46, 17/08/2018

(BGO) - Determining the attraction of foreign direct investment (FDI) projects as a way to not only promote economic growth and increase budget revenue but also to create jobs for many laborers. authorities in Bac Giang province have implemented an array of priority solutions to attract investment.

Electronic component manufacturing area of SJ Tech Vietnam One Member Limited Liability Company.

More efficient projects

In the Van Trung Industrial Zone (Viet Yen district), many Japanese, Korean and Chinese investors have been building workshops for electronic component manufacturing, mechanical engineering and processing industry, creating jobs for thousands of workers.

Typically, SJ Tech Vietnam Co., Ltd., a wholly foreign-owned company from the Republic of Korea, has invested in a project to produce LCD components for mobile phones. The project covers an area of over 50,000 sq.m with a total investment of 17 million USD.

Ry Hyoung Goan, General Director of the company, said: "Right from conducting investment procedures, competent agencies created all favorable conditions for us to carry out procedures quickly, ensuring the progress of the project. After getting investment approval, the company built infrastructure and installed production lines. In 2017, its revenue reached more than 3 trillion VND (128.7 million USD), with an estimated profit of nearly 190 billion VND (8.15 million USD).

This year, the company's total profit is expected to hit over 200 billion VND (8.58 million USD)”. Each year, the business contributes tens of billions of VND to the State budget and generates jobs for thousands of laborers with incomes from 7 million VND to more than 10 million VND per person per month.

Clear procedures and businesses’ effective operations have contributed to making Bac Giang more attractive to investors. According to the statistics of the provincial Department of Planning and Investment, the province has so far this year attracted 358 FDI projects with a total registered capital of nearly 4.2 billion USD, an increase of about 40 projects compared to the end of last year. Most of the investors came from the Republic of Korea, Japan and China.

With this result, Bac Giang ranked sixth nationwide in the number of FDI projects and 13th in terms of total newly registered capital. Enterprises have contributed to raising the provincial budget. In 2017 alone, foreign-invested businesses paid nearly 500 billion VND (21.45 million USD) in taxes and 320 billion VND (13.73 million USD) in the first six months of this year. At the same time, they created jobs for more than 100,000 laborers, with monthly incomes from 5 million VND to over 15 million VND per person.

Accompanying businesses

In order to achieve the above results, over the past time, the province has implemented synchronous measures to attract investment and support businesses in operating effectively. Bui Thi Thu Thuy, Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Planning and Investment, said the provincial Party Committee had issued a resolution on improving the business and investment environment for the 2016-2020 period. Based on the functions and duties, the province has assigned each department, agency and locality with their own tasks to raise the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI).

For example, the management board of the province’s industrial zones was assigned to introduce the potential and opportunities to investors, guide them in doing administrative procedures, and issue investment licenses. Or the Department of Natural Resources and Environment gives advice to the provincial People's Committee on land allocation and lease for enterprises and coordinates with districts and city in removing difficulties in site clearance. The customs office ensures customs clearance in the export and import of goods.

Together with the above solutions, the province has instructed the Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs to guide and assist enterprises in issuing work permits; while vocational training centers must do well labor supply for businesses. Particularly, Viet Yen district, where many enterprises have invested in, should pay attention to vocational training for laborers...

With those efforts, in 2017, the PCI of the province increased three places the 30th out of 63 provinces and cities nationwide. Like many investors, Shigeaki Hashimoto, Director of Nichirin Co., Ltd. (Japan), said: "The province’s investment environment is very good, with clear and quick administrative procedures. I have shared these advantages with some Japanese investors, so many of my friends are also looking for investment opportunities in the province."

With the view of "The success of enterprises is also the success of the province", the provincial leaders have regularly held dialogues with businesses to listen to their petitions, thus accompanying enterprises. At the same time, the province has also paid heed to make planning schemes on the development of industrial zones and clusters; and investing in perfecting technical infrastructure in order to raise the efficiency of investment attraction.