Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh with investors who received investment certificates in Long An, Photo: Nhat Bac

Long An province has efficiently availed of its location adjacent to Ho Chi Minh City, bountiful natural resources across the board, and efforts to create open, transparent and competitive business environment, leaders say.

In June’s approval of the province’s development planning for the rest of this decade and with a vision towards 2050, the province aims to be home to over 50 industrial zones (IZs) covering more than 12,400 hectares by 2030.

As of now, Long An accommodates 34 IZs spanning over 9,250ha, of which 26 are eligible to hail investment, with the land for industrial production amounting to 4,280ha. The current occupancy rate at local IZs surpasses 66 per cent.

Eight others with approved policies are in the stage of investment procedure preparation, land acquisition, and infrastructure development covering 2,465ha.

These include Thu Thua, Truong Hai International, The Ky, Nam Tan Tap, Tan Tap, Loc Giang, Tandoland, and Prodezi IZs.

Six others which have submitted dossiers asking for policy approval and are being evaluated by the Ministry of Planning and Investment are the expanded Phuc Long and Thinh Phat IZs, Anh Hong 2, third-phase Xuyen A, the expanded second-phase Long Hau, and Hoang Loc IZs.

In the year to date, Long An’s IZs have enticed 50 foreign-invested and 30 domestic projects valued at a total $1.3 billion in committed capital volume.

Additionally, 41 foreign-invested and nine domestic ventures sought capital additions, with a total combined supplemental capital volume surpassing $89 million.

Compared to a similar period in 2022, the number of projects rose by one-third, committed foreign capital volume surged by just over half, and committed domestic capital volume spiked by almost two-thirds.

Long An IZs have drawn in around 885 foreign-invested and 935 domestic initiatives, valued at a combined $11.95 billion in total capital volume.

Long An IZs lead in attracting local and foreign investors in the Mekong Delta area

Efficient exposure

Over the years, Long An has paid due heed to investment promotion through diverse forms both online and offline, from there boosting the province’s exposure to the wider community of local and international investors. Such promotion has become robust in the province in recent years.

Along with this, the province has succeeded in hosting many promotion events to entice investors to the province. On July 25, Long An successfully hosted a conference on its master plan announcement and investment promotion for the rest of the year, with the attendance of the prime minister.

Simultaneously, to commemorate 50 years of diplomatic ties between Vietnam and Japan in September, the province hosted an investment promotion conference last month themed “Long An Integration and Development”, with a view to promoting the development potential and opportunities to the wider community of Japanese financiers.

In addition, Long An has inaugurated the Korean Chamber of Commerce’s Long An branch and hosted a seminar promoting trade and investment with South Korean businesses; held dialogues with Japanese businesses and established a Japanese business branch in Long An; welcomed a working group from the Austrian trade office; held a working session with the Indian General Consulate; and welcomed delegations from South Korea’s Gyeongsangnam-do province, Japan’s Okayama prefecture, and from Samsung Vietnam, among others.

Meanwhile, on-the-spot investment promotion is also set as a priority in the province to help businesses remove impediments in a timely manner.

Provincial leaders have maintained monthly dialogues with businesses and ensured close cooperation with foreign business associations and branches to timely acquire information, from there radically tackling the problems firms were facing.

Many working groups were sent to businesses in major areas for industrial development such as Duc Hoa, Ben Luc, Can Duoc, Can Giuoc, Thu Thua, and Tan An city to help firms overcome hardships.

Long An IZs conveniently link with the region’s ports and logistics system

Stable and efficient operation

For its part, Long An Economic Zone Authority (LAEZA), which is in charge of overseeing investment promotion into the province’s economic zones and IZs, has regularly come up with diversified activities to boost the province’s exposure among businesses through holding seminars and workshops for investment attraction to local IZs.

LAEZA has efficiently availed of online promotion tools through websites of diverse domestic and foreign business associations and organisations; updating data and translating relevant documents in different languages to present investment environment and information about local IZs to foreign backers.

Currently, LAEZA operates the investment promotion portal into local IZs in Vietnamese, English, Korean, Chinese, and Japanese languages.

Also, the authority has frequently teamed up with IZ developers and secondary investors to host registration certificate awarding, inauguration and kick-off ceremonies to keep businesses best informed of the latest developments in the local investment climate.

Efforts are also made to provide them with updated information about local IZs and ready-to-serve factory space, as well as incentives upon request. LAEZA has required developers to accelerate construction to create more space for industrial production to entice investors to the province’s IZs.

In addition, LAEZA does its utmost to effectively play the role as a focal agency in IZ management, contributing to ensuring stable and efficient production and business practices in the province.

Administrative procedure reform is set a key task by LAEZA through the application of drastic measures to simplify procedures, helping firms to save time while facilitating business development.

Notably, in recent months and with support from the authority, many investors have had certificates handed over just one day after submitting their dossiers.

Committed to simplifying the process for individuals and businesses, LAEZA has taken consistent measures to ensure that more than half of the admin dossiers are settled entirely online.

In respect to investment promotion, Long An is committed to pushing up promotion efforts towards traditional and potential partners and markets such as South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, China, the US, and Singapore.

It is also giving priority to investors from tech-intensive countries, members of free trade agreements, and multinationals with plans to relocate headquarters or establish research and development centres, among others.