Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang (R) at the exhibition on Hau Giang provincial planning

Hau Giang is catching the interest of many domestic and foreign investors. Could you tell us more about this, and recent results?

Hau Giang is located on important traffic axes of the Mekong Delta with many passing national highways like 1, 61, 61B, 61C, Nam Song Hau and Quan Lo - Phung Hiep. Regarding waterways, Hau River and Xang Xa No Canal are vital waterways of the region. Hau Giang also has a dense system of rivers and canals, suitable for developing river-based ecotourism.

The province is transforming itself from an agricultural-based economy to an industrial one and has full potential and advantages to become a logistics hub of the Southwest region. In the near future, with the formation of highways and the upgrading of waterway transport, Hau Giang will have breakthrough changes.

With the viewpoint “Businesses come, Hau Giang is happy” and “Business success is the province's achievement”, the province has continuously built an attractive investment and business environment. The province’s innovation and thinking has been highly appreciated by businesses and investors. With a guiding slogan of “two rapid actions, three good things” in investment attraction (rapid site clearance, rapid investment procedures; good opportunities, good policies and good infrastructure), the province is committed to working with businesses to remove difficulties and resolve administrative investment procedures; advising, guiding and providing local investment information quickly, accurately and promptly. Hau Giang always creates an open investment attraction mechanism but it will carefully select investors and projects and never trade off the environment.

In 2023, the province licensed 17 new investment projects with VND2,624.64 billion (over US$111 million). At an announcement conference on investment planning and promotion, the Provincial People's Committee awarded investment licenses to 12 projects. To date, the province has 328 investment projects with VND186,028 billion (US$8 billion). Regarding foreign direct investment (FDI), in 2023, the province attracted US$23.62 million Sunjin Aquatic Feed Factory project invested by Sunjin Vina Co., Ltd of South Korea, bringing its total FDI projects to 25 with a combined registered investment capital of US$631.04 million.

As a late-comer area which transformed from a reserve area to a driving force area, what mechanisms has Hau Giang province adopted to attract investors and what are priority investment areas in the coming time?

Hau Giang has eight administrative units, including two cities, one town and five districts. By law, investors in Hau Giang will be entitled to maximum incentives on corporate income tax, import tax on machinery and equipment used to create fixed assets, land rent, water surface rent and cost of land-use repurposing. Depending on specific cases, there will be more incentives by law. Besides, the province has introduced many support policies such as ground support for projects, technology transfer and encouragement of scientific and technological activities, support vocational training for workers, business establishment registration fees, advertising costs and product promotion.

Based on Resolution 04-NQ/TU dated November 26, 2021 of the Executive Board of the Provincial Party Committee on Hau Giang industrial, agricultural, urban and tourism development in 2021 - 2025 and beyond, the Hau Giang Provincial Planning for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050 will focus on attracting investment capital for the following areas:

Industrial development: Further appealing and attracting investors into industrial zones with key industries like high-tech, machine manufacturing, electronics, industrial clean energy, high value-added services, export production and substituted import production projects.

Agricultural development: Calling for investment capital for projects tapping abundant local raw materials such as rice, seafood, pineapple and tropical fruits; developing key agricultural sectors, creating many safe and effective agricultural production models; calling investors to form effective agricultural production cooperation with farmers, cooperative and other stakeholders.

Urban development: Attracting more investment capital, further selecting investors to implement local housing development projects according to the Hau Giang housing development plan in 2021 - 2025; socialized housing projects to complete social infrastructure, cultural, education and training, medical, entertainment and environmental facilities in residential areas.

The International Festival of Vietnam Rice Industry, held in Hau Giang 2023, stands as the pinnacle of an extraordinary 14-year journey, marking the Rice Festival's evolution into a prominent since its inception in 2009

The Hau Giang Digital Park Project is expected to create new momentum in promoting economic growth and investment attraction. Would you be kind enough to tell us more about this project?

Information technology (IT) has become one of the most important driving forces of development. The construction and development of Hau Giang Digital Park is a fundamental solution to improve the province’s digital capacity, help create local digital companies that can support and provide digital transformation solutions for governmental agencies, organizations and businesses in the province and the Mekong Delta region.

The park will play an important role in fostering IT development: Creating an enabling investment environment to attract domestic and foreign capital and technology, forming a world-class working environment, attracting high-quality workers, and improving local business competitiveness. The park will also be a place to create IT products and services capable of replacing imported ones and help boost the development of the following fields: Telecom, finance, banking, customs, trade, e-commerce, public services, education services and healthcare services to spur economic growth, elevate production technology level and product competitiveness; and form a center for providing IT and communications infrastructure and services for Hau Giang province and the Mekong Delta region.

The project is divided into two infrastructure construction phases. Together with infrastructure investment, the province is also promoting and attracting investment capital, leasing land with infrastructure and providing services in the park. At the same time, the province is developing support and incentive policies on land lease with ready-built infrastructure. The first-phase construction, expected to cost VND50 billion, will include road construction, power grid, drainage and fire prevention.

Hau Giang Digital Park is planned for construction on 28.5 ha of land in Hamlet 4, Vi Tan commune, Vi Thanh city, Hau Giang province. By the end of 2023, five companies were committed to investing here. The park is considered a breakthrough, a leverage to boost the province's socioeconomic development in the future.

Thank you very much!