Binh Dinh speeding up investment licensing procedures

In 2016, the central province of Binh Dinh granted investment certificates to eight foreign invested projects with the total registered capital of $30.16 million, and approved 32 others worth $8.511 billion. What made Binh Dinh so attractive to investors in the past year?

Record set and broken

Last year, Binh Dinh set its own record by granting an investment certificate to VND4 trillion ($174 million) mega project FLC Nhon Ly within less than a single month.

Talking about this, Nguyen Bay, director of the Binh Dinh Investment Promotion Centre (IPC), emphasised that, “FLC Group visited Binh Dinh to attend the Conference on Tourism Investment Promotion in Quy Nhon City on March 30, 2015. During the tea break of the conference, representatives of FLC introduced and discussed several projects that the group was interesed in to the local authorities. FLC then received all information they needed for these projects.”

“FLC sent a team of experts to a field trip 14 days later. After that, the Binh Dinh People’s Committee, FLC, and Bank for Industry and Development of Vietnam signed the trilateral cooperation agreement on April 21, 2015. It took FLC only 24 days after visiting Binh Dinh to receive its investment certificate.”

This record, however, was broken in August 2016 when Binh Dinh granted an investment certificate to a foreign invested organic farming project, worth up to VND650 million ($28,260) in a single day. This project, funded by Kei’s Company Ltd. (Japan), is expected to be carried out in the province’s An Nhon Commune.

According to Nguyen Bay, in order to speed up the procedures, the Binh Dinh Department of Planning and Investment requested the Binh Dinh Investment Promotion Centre to directly give direction and advice, as well as support through the procedures to grant the investment certificate. Besides, director of the Business Registration Office was also asked to give careful instructions to Kei’s on enterprise establishment.

He asserted that, “This is an effort of the province and the Department of Planning and Investment to reform and simplify administrative procedures, as well as deal with impediments in time to boost the image of the province as an active investment environment.”

Inviting investors
 
Thanks to the ongoing administrative reform in Binh Dinh, plenty of new projects have flown into the province, along with many others raising capital.

Notable projects include FLC Nhon Ly, Casa Marina Island of Truong Thanh Quy Nhon Company in Hon Dat and Hon Ngang islands, Bai Xep International Resort, and Kien Hoang’s Xuan Dieu five-star hotel.  

Binh Dinh also became a compelling investment environment to prestigious foreign investors, including Dainichi Techno Green (Japan) and SBH Hotels & Resorts (Spain).

In 2017, to maintain this reputation, in addition to administrative reforms, Binh Dinh authorities will boost the dialogue with businesses to understand their demands and difficulties to improve the business climate, enhancing the socio-economic growth of the province.

Moreover, the Binh Dinh Department of Planning and Investment is drafting a proposal to apply the “one-stop shop” model. Currently, the local authorities await the submission of the draft for approval. E-regulation system is also being carried out at the same time. This portal is receiving the finishing touches and will be full of foreign investment procedures so that investors can have access and learn more about investment procedures in Binh Dinh.

Nguyen Bay emphasised that Binh Dinh wishes to keep investments coming to Nhon Hoi Economic Zone and other industrial zones in the province, styling them out to be the core of Binh Dinh’s growing industry, tourism services, and urban development.

“Importantly, we aim to create the foundations for a fast pace of development in the central region by 2020,” he said.

By Phuong Linh / vir