A workshop on investment promotion from the Republic of Korea (RoK) in the southern province of Binh Duong was held in the form of an online conference on November 20.

The workshop was jointly held by the provincial People’s Committee, the Becamex IDC Company, the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), and the business support centre in the RoK’s Gyoenggi-do region.

The RoK is the third-largest foreign investor in Binh Duong after Japan and China, with 756 projects and nearly US$3.2 billion in capital, accounting for nearly 5% of all investment from the country in Vietnam.

In remarks delivered at the workshop, Nguyen Thanh Trung, deputy head of the Management Board of Industrial Parks in Binh Duong, gave detailed instructions on procedures and land lease extensions.

He affirmed that Binh Duong always creates favourable conditions for foreign investors and stressed that administrative procedures are handled promptly by local authorities.

RoK investors made proposals to the provincial People’s Committee relating to the extension of land lease terms as well as support from local authorities in this regard, especially in the context of COVID-19.

Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Truc said the locality will pay due regard to improving the investment environment and local competitiveness and promoting support for investors in the locality in general and the RoK’s business community in particular.

He affirmed that local authorities will also focus on reforming administrative procedures to ensure publicity, transparency, and simplicity, thus facilitating the operations of investors.

Attention will be also paid to developing high-quality services and infrastructure networks in transport, water supply, electricity, and environmental treatment, and expanding industrial parks and training human resources to meet the requirements of enterprises and the needs of industrial and urban development in the locality, he added.

In 2020, despite the difficulties posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Binh Duong maintained its stable economic growth, with gross regional domestic product (GRDP) estimated to increase 6.78% and annual per capita GRDP to stand at VND150 million (US$6,500).

In the first ten months of 2020, more than US$1.7 million in foreign investment was poured into the province. It has attracted 3,913 foreign-invested projects in total, with registered capital hitting US$35.3 billion.

It is one of the three leading localities nationwide in attracting FDI, after HCM City and Hanoi.