Tay Ninh has recently made breakthroughs in investment attraction, especially FDI attraction. This is thanked to its efforts in ceaselessly improving investment environment, promoting available potential and advantages. This is affirmed by Director of Department of Planning and Investment of Tay Ninh province Bui Cong Son.
Could you please reveal specific results of Tay Ninh in FDI attraction in recent years?
Till June 9 2017, Tay Ninh has a total of 265 FDI projects worth over US$ 4, 8 billion which brings a turnover of over US$ 2 billion, an export value of nearly US$ 2, 5 billion and an import value of nearly US$ 1, 5 billion, creating 124, 957 jobs and contributing US$ 40.58 million to the State’s budget.
The results of FDI attraction in 2016 has contributed to GRDP growth of 7.6% and a fairly good growth rate of agriculture-industry-service, of which industry and service exceeded the planned targets. Export value reached US$ 3.3 billion, this was the first year that Tay Ninh set an export record. This positive result has helped improved PCI scores of Tay Ninh to Good Group (59.66 scores in 2015 and 60.15 scores in 2016), of which indexes of dynamism and support services increased significantly compared to 2015.
Despite good results of FDI attraction, disbursed capital rate is still low as assessed by experts, could you please explain the reason why and what key solutions to solve this?
A total of 208 out of 265 FDI projects are operating worth US$ 3, 406.94 million while 16 other are under construction worth SU$ 695.26 million; 27 are not implemented worth US$ 704.67 million; 14 stop operation with a total investment capital of US$ 30.861 million. Disbursed capital takes up of 50.9% of total registered capital. I think such a disbursed rate is not low at all or even higher than that of other regional countries.
At macro level, foreign directed investors keep flowing to Vietnam to seize opportunities from TPP once ratified. However, with Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the US from TPP, investors seem to change their investment orientations, this leads to undoubtedly low rate of FDI disbursed capital. In addition, with a series of environmental issues including Formosa environmental disaster in recent time in Central region occurring, this has caused impacts on other investors in pouring their investment capital to projects that can have possibility to cause environmental pollution in Vietnam.
At micro level, there exists a common reality that registered capital rate is much higher than disbursed one, some projects with “monumental” investment policies to be granted “red book” with large area and big amount of capital but disbursed money is very limited compared to registered capital. Some projects with large amount of capital are divided into 2 or 3 phases. Therefore, it is easy to understand that the prolonged time of evaluation and completion of Phase 1 leads limited disbursement rate, this does not reflect the real situation.
In order to overcome this, Tay Ninh has directed relative State management agencies to review and timely remove difficulties and barriers to speed up the progress of capital disbursement and to enhance investment efficiency. In addition, the province, in the process of granting investment policy, will review and choose qualified investors with modern technology.
To seize the new wave of investment, Tay Ninh has established supporting industry sub-divisions in Phuoc Dong and Thanh Thanh Cong industrial parks, could you share more information about these supporting industry sub-divisions and the results of FDI attraction?
To enhance efficiency of investment attraction, especially FDI, it is necessary to attract investment in fields of supporting industries. Therefore, Provincial People’s Committee of Tay Ninh has agreed on establishment of a 278 ha textile and supporting industry sub-division invested by Thanh Thanh Cong Group and a 425.6 ha textile and supporting industry sub-division in Phuoc Dong Industrial Park. In addition, TMTC industrial park in Moc Bai Border gate Economic Zone has been approved by Tay Ninh Provincial People’s Committee to turn into a 100.16ha textile and supporting industry zone.
The establishment of industrial parks, textile and supporting industry sub-division will support production establishments (especially textile enterprises) in domestic and foreign industrial parks and economic zones to step by step to self-supply local production material source, reducing dependence on imported materials and ensuring stringent inspection on environmental issues.
Textile and supporting industry sub-divisions in Tay Ninh have attracted 19 FDI projects with a total registered capital of US$ 1, 862 million/US$4, 634.11 million, accounting for 40.18% of total investment capital in industrial parks, export processing parks and border gate economic zones in the province and 39.64% of total registered capital.
Could you reveal Tay Ninh’s FDI attraction orientation from now till 2020?
Tay Ninh is making efforts to complete our common goals but not at any cost but toward modern-efficient-sustainable way. In the coming time, apart from attracting investment into industrial parks-industrial clusters, Tay Ninh will develop trade-service-tourism sectors to make use of available advantages, making tourism a key economic sector, connecting trade-service tourism development by bringing into play locally available strengths closely attached with Southern key economic zone. Beside, we will implement tourism restructuring scheme, promoting fast development of Ba Den Mountain tourism area; encouraging and creating favorable conditions for local enterprises to cooperate and expand their trade-service activities to ASEAN markets.
In addition, Tay Ninh will study experience, work out agricultural development orientation toward clean, organic agricultural development with higher added value. Currently, Lavifood has invested in constructing Tanifood factory in Thanh Duc Commune, Go Dau District (with total investment capital of VND 500 billion) equipped with modern production line manufacturing fruits for export. Now over 10 investors commit to pour over VND 17,000 billion into hi-tech agricultural development value chain in Tay Ninh in the period of 2017-2020. This is a “bright” spot of Tay Ninh in investment promotion, creating a positive effect in the province’s agricultural development.
To industrial parks, Tay Ninh will focus on constructing technical and social infrastructure systems (school, kindergarten, etc.) to promote development of industrial parks into sustainable way; giving priority to attraction of investment into supporting industries, less labor-intensive sectors or supporting industries using modern, automatic technology and cause less pollution.
Cuong Nguyen
