After relentless efforts to improve the business environment to attract investors, Bac Lieu province has achieved desirable results with hundreds of domestic and foreign investment projects, including projects with registered investment value amounting to US$4 billion. Many related this advent of giant projects in Bac Lieu to the nesting of eagles.
Mr. Tran Thanh Tam, Director of the Bac Lieu Department of Planning and Investment, said the province had faced numerous subjective and objective difficulties and the outcome has represented the great endeavor of the province.
By defining potential and strengths and working in the right time, the province has created the opportunity for its own development in the past time. Particularly, the highlight is the direction of the Prime Minister at the beginning of the year and the conclusion of the Standing Board of the Provincial Party Committee in mid-2018, defining above-mentioned five pillars of local socioeconomic development is a right, timely decision that shapes a clear and specific direction for the province to direct, administer and mobilize social investment resources for target goals, create better coherence, consistency and efficiency to capture the opportunity of development.
To further promote its achieved results and overcome hardships and challenges to win growing competition for investment flows, in the coming time, Bac Lieu province will effectively carry out various solutions, Tam said.
“In the coming time, to concentrate investment on building and perfecting socioeconomic infrastructures and speed up the progress of key projects to attract investors, the province will continue to strongly reform administrative procedures relating to project investment (e.g. planning, construction and land), improve the business investment climate and enhance the PCI. It will accelerate the Bac Lieu master planning to 2030, with a vision to 2050,” he said.
“Besides, the province will pay attention to effectively operating the Bac Lieu Public Administration Service Center and providing favorable conditions for agencies, people and businesses to solve administrative procedures to increase connectivity and transparency. Bac Lieu will continue to update and revise regulations on investment incentives and supports in line with new government regulations, especially on agriculture and rural development, to positively support investors and boost communications on the local investment and business environment.”
Selective investment attraction
Being a purely agricultural province, the agricultural sector occupies a key position in the local economy, with main products being rice and aquatic products. But, Bac Lieu is determined not to exchange economic benefits for environmental ones when it considers investment project licensing.
Selective investment attraction has been a cross-cutting direction of the province for many years. The province’s proposal for removal of Cai Cung Thermal Power Plant in Dong Hai and Hoa Binh districts from the VII Electricity Plan to give priority to clean energy and renewable energy, and for formation and investment of Bac Lieu High-tech Agriculture Park, is the most concrete evidence for this viewpoint.
In the midst of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, this is not only an opportunity but the selection of high-tech projects is also an inevitable trend. The approach to clean energy, renewable energy and high-tech environment-friendly technology to agricultural development, especially shrimp farming, is a very promising and firm step of Bac Lieu province in the overall development picture of Vietnam and the world.
By Quoc Hung, Vietnam Business Forum
Vietnamese
October 2024
Hanoi