The province enticed seven new foreign-invested projects, and three existing projects increased registered capital by $478 million, placing Thai Nguyen in the fourth place nationwide in foreign direct investment attraction in Q1. Cumulatively as of now, the province is home to 218 foreign ventures with a total registered capital reaching $11.2 billion.

The Trina Solar project in Thai Nguyen province

In late February, Thai Nguyen Industrial Parks Management Authority approved a project on the production of monocrystalline silicon ingots, monocrystalline silicon panels, and solar energy panels for Trina Solar Cell Vietnam, a unit belonging to Chinese solar panel manufacturer Trina Solar, at Yen Binh Industrial Park (IP), with a total investment value surpassing $450 million.

This is the third project involving Trina Solar in Thai Nguyen, bringing its total investment in the province to $932 million. The project is slated to kick-off construction this month and commence operation from next spring, creating employment for more than 4,300 labourers.

Earlier, Trina Solar expedited two similar projects also at Yen Binh IP worth $478 million. Both projects are powered by high-tech and eco-friendly technology, aligned with the province’s investment attraction direction.

Last month, Nguyen Thanh Hai, Secretary of Thai Nguyen Party Committee, worked with a delegation from Japan’s Kawasaki city and Japanese investors led by Norio Aoki, mayor of the City Council, who visited to learn about investment opportunities in the province.

Hai expressed the desire to welcome more foreign investors, and Japanese ones in particular, to set up shop in the province and asserted the commitment to continue expediting preferential policies within the legal framework.

The province also wants to improve the quality of administrative reform and digital transformation, and grasp the difficulties facing investors and resolve them swiftly. The Japanese delegation also expressed the desire to invest in a number of fields, especially healthcare.

Trinh Viet Hung, Chairman of Thai Nguyen People’s Committee, noted that this year is of particular importance for localities in expediting and completing economic growth targets in the context the economy is forecast to gain rebound momentum.

Of note, Thai Nguyen is the fifth locality nationwide in which the prime minister approved provincial planning for the rest of the decade and with a vision towards 2050, which regulates the planning of 12 IZs and over 40 industrial clusters with a total area surpassing 6,300 hectares.

Le Quang Tien, Vice Chairman of Thai Nguyen People’s Committee, said, “To further improve the local investment climate, the province has established a task force in charge of helping businesses and investors swiftly remove issues when implementing projects in the area, as well as organising monthly dialogue meetings with businesses and investors to facilitate production and business activities.”

Thai Nguyen ranked second nationwide in the satisfaction index of individuals and businesses in public administrative services in the Vietnam Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index for 2023. The results were unveiled last month.

Chairman Hung believes the province renders multiple opportunities to attract foreign investment, particularly the fresh planning scheme for the rest of this decade would be the premise for the province to open up new development and investment space.

“Therefore, strengthening and innovating investment promotion activities, especially foreign investment promotion, will help the province best avail of the opportunities, increasing cooperation with global investors, contributing to propelling the province’s socioeconomic development quickly and sustainably,” said Hung.

Meanwhile, Le Kim Phuc, director of Thai Nguyen Industrial Parks Management Authority, noted that Thai Nguyen commits to taking specific actions to best support investors. “Top priority shall be given to high-tech, electronics, and semiconductor projects, and projects that create high added value and embrace modern and effective governance, having spillover effects and connecting global production and supply chains,” said Phuc. “Quality, technological efficiency, and environmental resource protection are Thai Nguyen’s main evaluation criteria in investment attraction.”