Renovating, Improving Investment Promotion

The utilization of local position advantages and abundant resources and the dynamic, friendly leadership of the provincial government has brightened the picture of investment attraction in recent years. Licensed investment projects increase both in quantity and quality. Mr. Duong Quoc Anh, Director of the Lam Dong Trade, Tourism and Investment Promotion Center (TIPC Lam Dong), gives an exclusive interview to Vietnam Business Forum on this issue. Nguyen Bach report.

What do you think about TIPC's investment, trade and investment promotion in recent years?

TIPC Lam Dong, a non-business unit under the Lam Dong Provincial People’s Committee, is tasked to promote investment, trade and tourism which correlate with business support. Annually, TIPC Lam Dong works with other departments, branches, localities and associations in the province to host and join many investment, trade and tourism promotion activities. These activities are organized in many different forms and integrated with many fields. The following are some typical results.

Investment promotion and business support: Investment promotion and business support are carried out synchronously and positively; renovated, focused on content; and stuck to local socioeconomic development. Investment promotion documents have been compiled with sufficient detailed information about investment areas and priority projects. Some projects have sufficient information about local maps, status information, planning, cost estimate for compensation, site clearance, land rental and total investment. TIPC Lam Dong held investment and trade promotion conferences in Lam Dong and other provinces, through which many investors and businesses came to explore local potential strength and opportunities and sign many investment agreements. It has sped up local investment promotion and supported small and medium-sized enterprises with procedures, investment advice, public-private dialogue, customs and tax policy, banking-business connection, investment and trade promotion. These activities helped investors and enterprises have solutions to their hardships and obstacles.

Information sharing, trade and tourism promotion and market connection for businesses: To enhance advertisement and introduction of local tourism and trade potential and strengths and investment policies, in the 2015 - 2020 period, TIPC Lam Dong has printed and issued 306,500 publications in Vietnamese, English, Japanese, Korean and Russian languages and distributed them free of charge to enterprises and investors. The agency regularly disseminated documents on new policies, regulations and useful information for businesses on websites for businesses and investors to refer to for business operations. The center regularly collected information about trade promotion programs, matched supply and demand sides in the province; assisted 77 companies to join trade fairs and conferences organized by the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade) - Ministry of Industry and Trade and local trade promotion agencies. Thus, the center helped enterprises to reduce participation costs, introduce products and expand the market.

TIPC Lam Dong organized 14 trade connection conferences for local companies, distributors, importers, exporters and supermarkets; hosted one conference for Lam Dong companies and 20 Japanese companies and led four business delegations to trade connection conferences hosted by other provinces and cities. As a result, 455 businesses participated and signed 46 contracts and 201 memorandums of understanding on product supply and consumption.

From those business support policies, investors and businesses in Lam Dong province are assured of their activities, make more profit and expand production.

What will TIPC Lam Dong specifically focus on to promote competitive advantages and highlight local potential in 2020-2025?

Da Lat City of Lam Dong province, featuring a mild, cool climate, beautiful landscapes and ecological diversity, is already a major tourist and resort center of Vietnam. Besides, agriculture is a strength in the economic structure.

Given its potential, Lam Dong will develop three main areas: High-tech agriculture, tourism service and agricultural processing. TIPC Lam Dong will accompany and provide best support for businesses to take part in market entry and connection events, connect and form many new tours through conferences and business matches.

TIPC Lam Dong will focus on the following contents: Placing interests of enterprises on top; organizing promotion activities fully integrated with investment, trade and tourism fields; organizing events for localities with similar natural characteristics and products; making regional promotion documents; sharing information on websites and maintaining regular contact with Vietnamese counselors in foreign countries and foreign organizations in Vietnam.

In addition, its investment promotion must focus on the following areas:

Tourism: Focusing on carry out tasks under Resolution 07-NQ/TU dated November 16, 2016, of the Lam Dong Provincial Party Committee on high-quality tourism and service development in Lam Dong province in 2016-2020 and to 2025. Investment priority will be given to projects that develop high-class hotels, entertainment areas in Da Lat City and some other areas, tourist complexes, high-quality shopping and entertainment centers, specific local tourism products like adventure sports tourism and agricultural tourism.

Agriculture: Investment will be encouraged for biotech, hi-tech agriculture, smart agriculture, crop research and production, high-class agricultural products for local demand and production development policies.

Industry: Focus will be placed on mobilizing investors to develop existing industrial zones, especially for agricultural products and post-harvest preservation of agricultural products.

In recent years, Lam Dong province is carrying out many solutions to build an enabling government of service to people and businesses. With its assigned functions and tasks, what will TIPC Lam Dong do for upcoming activities?

Annually, TIPC Lam Dong will advise the Provincial People’s Committee to issue a promotion program that serves existing local enterprises. The provincial government is committed to siding with investors and businesses to:

Organize regular meetings and dialogues with investors to promptly remove difficulties and obstacles, create the most favorable conditions for them to access land, credit and clear the ground to bring their projects into operation soon.

Ensure full regulatory investment incentives for enterprises such as preferential policies on corporate income tax, import and export tax, land rental and land-use fee.

Make clear regulations on business conditions and market entry; carry out policies on SME development.

Source: Vietnam Bunnies Forum