Pham Thien Nghia, Chairman of Dong Thap People’s Committee (second from right), welcomes investors, Photo: Van Khuong

For the past couple of years, Dong Thap has been rated by the business community as having a pro-business investment environment.

However, not self-satisfied with past achievements, Dong Thap People’s Committee has required relevant management agencies to focus on implementing measures aiming at constantly improving the local investment climate.

This is a testament to the leaders’ commitment to always work with enterprises, and doing everything for the growth and prosperity of the business community.

Dong Thap has made efforts to accelerate administrative reforms by shortening the settlement process, ensuring publicity and transparency along with enhancing the accountability of relevant administrative agencies.

Chairman Nghia on a field visit to local businesses

Dong Thap People’s Committee has instructed relevant units to make regular reviews and assessments of administrative procedures to be able to timely craft proposals on amendment, supplementation, or replacement of regulations and procedures that are no longer suited to current practice, causing a waste of time and cost for businesses.

The committee has requested that the local Administrative Procedure Control and Public Services Centre publicises regulations and procedures in a timely and transparent manner to boost settlement efficiency.

Efforts have also been made to boost the propagation of administrative processes via diverse models such as making video clips on how to complete them; issuing relevant articles and stories on social media; and publishing leaflets guiding how to trace accountability progress to ensure local people and businesses are clearly knowledgeable about relevant procedures.

The province has also succeeded in building and implementing efficient administrative reform models to support business startup, reform, and innovation to ensure their operations are attuned to integration requirements with the overall target of gradually improving management quality.

In addition, provincial leaders and those of diverse management agencies and local areas have taken part in regular meetings with businesses via open formats, like coffee meetings. Provincial leaders have also hosted diverse meetings in industrial zones (IZs) to share and tackle difficulties businesses have been facing.

Dong Thap has been paying due regard to business support through crafting support policies, particularly to small- and medium-sized enterprises. The support covers manpower training, trade promotion, industrial extension programmes, and credit access, among others, which have yielded encouraging results.

Pham Thien Nghia, Chairman of Dong Thap People’s Committee said, “Dong Thap is sparing no efforts to constantly improve its ranking in the Provincial Competitiveness Index for the growth of businesses setting up shop in the province, as well as for prosperity in the land of the Pink Lotus.”

Seamless infrastructure

Aside from restoring production, Dong Thap centres on developing key transport infrastructure across the province, while crafting and developing IZ and industrial cluster systems to meet increasing local economic development requirements.

The province has established a steering committee for the construction of key traffic works for the 2021-2025 period, along with promulgating coordinating regulations and an implementation plan for the construction of such works in the province during the period.

Dong Thap will gradually invest in traffic and connecting local areas with neighbouring provinces and build local routes connecting with trunk roads. Key traffic routes serving the transportation of goods and passengers are facilitated for the development of agricultural commodities, connecting urban areas, IZs and clusters, and large raw material areas.

Some typical projects include the upgrading of the National Highway No.30’s third-phase Cao Lanh-Hong Ngu section, building Provincial Road No.857 and roads in the South Tien River area, among others.

Dong Thap is currently home to three IZs – Sa Dec, Song Hau, and Tran Quoc Toan – with Tan Kieu IZ in Thap Muoi district in the process of technical infrastructure construction and is expected to have the available fund for investment attraction within the year. The average occupancy rate of the three existing IZs is over 99 per cent.

At the same time, Dong Thap also embraces border-gate economic zone infrastructure development and receives support from the central government to perfect the zone’s technical infrastructure to be able to attract investors.

Furthermore, Dong Thap accommodates 15 industrial clusters covering 547.7 hectares, in which 12 have been put into operation, with a total area of 404.7ha and reaching an occupancy rate of about 80 per cent.

Economic rebound

In the first half of this year, Dong Thap has witnessed remarkable changes with signs of a strong economic rebound across the board, with regional GDP growing 3.47 per cent.

Regarding agriculture, Dong Thap continues to maintain stable production with assured consumption. In the first half of 2022, the province’s agro-forestry-fishery production value reached an estimated at $934.5 million, up 4.74 per cent on-year and equal to 45.4 per cent of the full-year projection.

Industrial production has also been restored, with the value in the province so far in 2022 estimated at $1.56 billion, an increase of 6.98 per cent on-year and reaching 54 per cent of the plan.

Trade and services have been resumed almost completely. The province has also enhanced trade promotion activities, connected supply and demand, and embraced market expansion. Consequently, its total retail sales of goods and services in the first six months amounted to $2.42 billion, showing a 7 per cent jump on-year and reaching 53.5 per cent of the full-year plan.

The bright spot in the province’s economic picture during this six-month period was the sharp growth in the export value, which touched $785 million, soaring 48.4 per cent on-year.

Along with this, all key exports eyed a sharp hike in their value, such as processed seafood, rice, shrimp crackers, and garments. With the current situation, the province’s exports are expected to continue the growth momentum during the rest of 2022.

In the first six months of 2022, Dong Thap witnessed 390 newly established enterprises, up 28.3 per cent on-year, with the total registered capital volume touching $130 million – up $20 million compared to the same period of 2021.