Bac Lieu province has launched many investment promotion events. Could you tell us about these results?

The province has successfully hosted two investment promotion conferences since 2018, broadly attended by central and local authorities, foreign organizations, neighboring provinces, and large domestic and foreign corporations. Over 20 registered investment projects were signed at these events with a total capital of more than VND110 trillion, largely involved in wind power, solar power and shrimp farming. 12 projects were licensed for investment and 10 key projects were announced to call for investment cooperation, with a total expected investment fund of VND182 trillion.

Those activities have helped the province to draw more investment funds. To date, Bac Lieu has licensed 200 investment projects (including 182 domestic projects with a total registered investment capital of VND65.09 trillion and 18 foreign-invested projects with US$4.7 billion).

At the same time, the province participated in investment promotion delegations in Australia, South Korea, Japan, the United States and Thailand to promote and introduce local potential, strengths, investment opportunities and business investment environment to foreign firms and investors.

How has the economic recession affected project implementation and investment attraction in Bac Lieu province?

Recent economic developments have greatly affected the production, business and export activities of companies. Many went bankrupt due to insufficient resources, while there is no breakthrough in slow investment attraction and resource mobilization from economic sectors. Specifically, in the first nine months of 2024, only two investment projects were licensed by the province. Some investment projects were implemented slowly. Notably, Bac Lieu LNG Power Plant Project did not start construction, thus affecting the province’s investment attraction results and socioeconomic development objectives in 2024. The economic performance of the country and the province was forecast to be still unfavorable and challenging and affect project implementation and investment attraction in the province.

The energy sector and high-tech shrimp farming are making important contributions to the economic development of Bac Lieu province

To create new momentum in investment attraction, what solutions has Bac Lieu province adopted?

To woo more and more businesses and investors to Bac Lieu to explore investment opportunities and locate their projects, the province will need to implement many firm and consistent solutions. In particular, it must focus on investing in construction and completing socioeconomic infrastructure and speeding up the progress of key projects to attract more investment. It will prioritize infrastructure projects to create strong ripple effects, especially on its strategic transport infrastructure, regional connectivity (highways and coastal roads), technical infrastructure in high-tech agricultural zones, power grid, irrigation infrastructure, telecom and information technology, science and technology infrastructure, trade and services, healthcare, education - training and social security.

At the same time, Bac Lieu province will speed up the implementation of the approved Bac Lieu Provincial Planning for the 2021 - 2030 period, with a vision to 2050; strengthen investment promotion and attraction for large-scale projects; select big, reputable investors with apparent financial health; foster scientific and technological application, innovation, digital transformation, digital economy and digital society; accelerate administrative reform, including reforming and streamlining administrative procedures in a practical manner to reduce service time and enhance transparency; meet and dialogue with companies and investors, promptly tackle emerging problems; and support economic entities, businesses and investors to explore local investment planning, policies, procedures, market potential, partners and investment opportunities.

According to PCI 2023 released by VCCI, Bac Lieu province continued to be behind the Top 30 provinces and cities. This outcome was reportedly not what the province expected and strived for. What measures will the province take to improve this performance?

The Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People's Committee defined improving the province’s business environment and competitiveness towards sustainable development as an important and regular task. Bac Lieu has made great efforts to speed up administrative reform, remove obstacles in the way to woo domestic and foreign investors in line with the Government-backed directions on enhancing the country’s business environment and competitiveness. In 2023, the province’s Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) gained 2.67 more points from a year earlier, but it still stood behind the 30 best-performing provinces and cities.

In the coming time, to further raise the PCI Index, Bac Lieu will focus on carrying out key tasks and solutions like effectively implementing central and local resolutions, programs and plans on improving the local business environment to enhance provincial competitiveness.

Bac Lieu province will effectively carry out the overall administrative reform program, reduce the time needed to handle administrative procedures in popular areas such as land, construction, investment and business registration; apply administrative procedures in the electronic environment, quickly settle administrative procedures for people and businesses, and take public and business satisfaction as a measure of quality and efficiency of state administrative agencies.

Thank you so much!