Creating More Advantages in Investment Attraction

Despite having fewer comparative advantages in transportation connectivity, a fragmented terrain, and limited land available for urban development and large-scale industrial parks, Bac Kan has become an attractive destination for investors in recent years. According to Director of the Bac Kan Department of Planning and Investment Tran Cong Hoa, to overcome challenges and drive breakthroughs in investment attraction, the province is aggressively reforming administrative processes and innovating investment promotion strategies.

Attracting investment capital for tourism and industrial development is one of the contents of the resolution of the Bac Kan Provincial Party Congress in the 2020-2025 term. Could you please tell us about solutions to how this resolution has been effectively implemented? What are investment attraction results in the first six months of 2024?

Defining investment attraction as the key to boosting local strengths and economic development, Bac Kan has constantly endeavored to become an attractive destination for investors.

Accordingly, the province has focused on directing and completing the construction of long-term strategic plans like the Bac Kan Provincial Planning for the 2021 - 2030 period, with a vision to 2050; the Plan for conservation and promotion of the values of Ba Be Lake scenic landscape; and the Plan for preservation, restoration and rehabilitation of Cho Don Safe Zone Special National Relic Site. The locality has accelerated the progress of general urban plans, zoning plans and detailed construction plans as a foundation for enticing private investment funds for the province in general and the tourism and industrial sectors in particular.

Bac Kan has also invested in developing traffic infrastructure (like Bac Kan City - Ba Be Lake route linked to Na Hang, Tuyen Quang, Cho Moi - Bac Kan Expressway and Quang Khe - Khang Ninh route); reviewed, supplemented and integrated 27 industrial complexes (676ha in total) and seven industrial parks (2,361ha in total) into the Bac Kan Provincial Planning to attract investment in technical infrastructure and invite investors to do business.

In the first six months of the year, despite socioeconomic difficulties, the province managed to achieve encouraging investment attraction results. The province lured five investment projects approved with a total registered capital of over VND800 billion, licensed 45 companies and 24 cooperatives. The province currently has about 1,200 companies and 428 cooperatives.

Bac Kan is gradually carrying out the development policy that advocates the shift from "brown" to "green" in many economic sectors. How does this affect the province's investment attraction approach?

The Provincial People's Committee has focused on directing the implementation of many solutions to tackle all obstacles for companies, especially solutions to encourage and attract them to invest in green, clean and high-tech industries. The province has striven to become an average developed province with sustainable development in the region by 2030, with a green and dynamic economy.

Peer business matching initiatives are designed to boost competitiveness and increase product value, offering support to local enterprises

The province will promote, encourage and attract dynamic, focused, influential investment projects with a strong ripple effect, particularly transport infrastructure, power supply network, digital transformation infrastructure and tourism service infrastructure; preserve the landscape and terrain; and make the most of the potential of green energy.

Agriculturally, priority is given to green, clean, and high-tech agriculture. The province will strive to make Bac Kan province one of agricultural, forest and medicinal product processing centers in the northern midland and mountainous region.

Industrially, Bac Kan will develop processing industries, apply environmentally friendly advanced technologies and develop renewable energy. It will attract investors in industrial zones to limit impacts on the ecological environment and ensure green and sustainable development.

At the same time, the province will focus on directing investment attraction in developing eco-tourism, leisure tourism and natural discovery, particularly tourism development projects in Ba Be Lake, Nam Cat Lake, Kim Hy Nature Reserve and Nam Xuan Lac Species and Habitat Conservation Area.

In 2024 - 2025 and the following years, Bac Kan will have a total of 81 projects searching for investment, including three power projects, 10 urban infrastructure, trade, service and golf course projects, three industrial parks, 23 industrial complexes, seven real estate infrastructure projects, 19 tourism service infrastructure projects, six commercial infrastructure projects, and 10 agricultural and forestry projects.

What specific solutions has Bac Kan taken to accompany businesses and investors?

Bac Kan does not have as many comparative advantages as other localities. Thus, although it has advantages in forest resources, minerals and tourism, “four no’s” barriers (no railway, no air route, no highway and no border) make many businesses hesitate about surveying investment opportunities in the locality. Therefore, the province needs to have a development philosophy and create its own comparative advantages.

The Party and the government of Bac Kan province have implemented consistent solutions to improve the investment and business environment. The Standing Board of the Provincial Party Committee issued Directive 27-CT/TU dated April 28, 2023 to strengthen the Party's leadership in attracting and supporting privately invested projects in the province and the Provincial Party Committee promulgated Document 1335-CV/TU dated January 16, 2023 on strengthening investment, construction, planning, land and financial management.

The province has also completed the Special Working Group to resolve existing obstacles in privately invested projects, led by the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee. The working group periodically meets once a month to check the implementation of its tasks.

Regarding investment promotion and business support, on May 20, 2024, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision 852/QD-UBND establishing the Steering Committee for Investment Promotion and Business Support. The Steering Committee, which is directly managed by the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, assists the Provincial People's Committee in carrying out investment promotion, improving the investment and business environment and enhancing provincial competitiveness; consults investors and companies to learn about investment and supporting administrative procedures after investment policy/investment certificates are approved to expedite projects.

In addition to the above solutions, Bac Kan continues to accelerate investment progress, develop infrastructure, especially traffic infrastructure and industrial zones to create a ground to attract investment, promptly complete the planning and facilitate project implementation.

In order to improve the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) and the District and Department Competitiveness Index (DDCI) of the Department of Planning and Investment, what solutions are being vigorously implemented by the department?

Raising the PCI Index in general and the DDCI Index in particular is a key task that the Department of Planning and Investment aims to build an open, transparent and attractive business environment. The department regularly coordinates with relevant units to build, issue and implement mechanisms, policies and strategies; provide planning information; create a favorable investment and business environment; further review administrative procedures, abolish unnecessary ones to enhance convenience and reduce time and cost for companies.

To date, 100% of administrative procedures from provincial to communal levels are settled under the single-window mechanism and applied information technology, including individual software applications. Many administrative procedures are solved earlier than the regulatory time like the procedure for registering corporate formation reduced to two working days, the shorter time of granting investment certificates under the authority of the Provincial People's Committee, the shorter time of granting land certificates, house ownership certificates for the first time, and the shorter time of granting construction permits.

The department will enhance the role and responsibility of leaders in supporting and promptly resolving hardships faced by enterprises. For priority project areas, the province will establish a special working group to support them to get started.

The department will further uphold the highest sense of responsibility, activeness and creativity and adopt drastic and consistent solutions to maintain and further raise the PCI Index in general and the DDCI Index applied to it in particular.

Bac Kan is committed to accompanying, supporting and facilitating the business community and investors to achieve many successes in the locality. The province also hopes that businesses will continue to cooperate, work and join hands with the government to build an increasingly sustainable Bac Kan.

Thank you very much!

By Duy Anh, Vietnam Business Forum