Improving Dak Nong's investment environment still has many barriers

Administration is still not really open

Despite positive solutions, improving the business investment environment in Dak Nong still has barriers. The implementation of the one-stop mechanism in many places is still cumbersome, causing trouble for businesses.

In the province, there is still a phenomenon of shifting responsibility among some State administrative agencies. In many places, there is a lack of unity and synchronization between departments in handling administrative procedures for businesses and investors.

Many Dak Nong businesses still spend a lot of time processing documents and procedures.

According to the assessment of enterprises inside and outside the province, Dak Nong has had strong reforms in attracting investment, creating favorable conditions for enterprises.

However, those efforts have only stopped at some industries and localities and have not been synchronous and stable according to a system.

“In the process of implementing the work, businesses are still stuck in some departments. To be convenient, businesses run in many different places. Meanwhile, Dak Nong should have a focal point to solve the work. Businesses and investors only need to work and discuss with the main focal point,” said Mr. Nguyen Viet Anh, Director of Me Linh Joint Stock Company in the Central Highlands, Buon Ma Thuot City ( Dak Lak ).

Regarding barriers in the investment environment in Dak Nong, Mr. Nguyen The Cuong, Deputy Director of Huy Hien Trading - Service Company Limited, Dak R'lap District, said that the most important thing is the quality of implementation, improving the quality of implementation. In this regard, Dak Nong has made improvements, but needs to make more efforts.

Mr. Cuong gave an example of many policies to support businesses and investors that were strongly directed by the leaders of Dak Nong province. However, in reality, when businesses go through the procedures, it still takes a lot of time.

“Every time it involves one department, the responsibility is pushed to another. In the end, many businesses still have to struggle to solve the problem themselves. Businesses waste time, but have not reached the final result,” Mr. Cuong shared.

Many businesses believe that Dak Nong needs to improve the quality of implementing mechanisms and policies.

Mr. Dau Anh Tuan, Deputy Secretary General, Member of the Standing Committee, Head of the Legal Department of VCCI, Director of the PCI Project said that currently, Dak Nong needs to enhance publicity, transparency, and access to information.

“Improving administrative procedures on land needs to be implemented more strongly, especially in areas that cause many troubles for businesses,” Mr. Tuan shared.

Difficult access to capital

One of the bottlenecks considered to be very big in the production and business activities of enterprises is access to credit capital. Many enterprises and investors find it very difficult to access capital from credit institutions in Dak Nong.

Regarding access to credit capital, Mr. Nguyen Kha, Director of Dai Dung Joint Stock Company, Tam Thang Industrial Park, Cu Jut District, said that the company's total investment is more than 500 billion VND. However, the company has not been able to borrow any money from banks in Dak Nong.

Dak Nong enterprises need access to credit capital for development

“We want the locality to create conditions for us to access bank loans. Because in the difficult economic context, it is impossible for businesses to invest 100% of their own capital,” Mr. Kha affirmed.

Ms. Tran Thi Diu, Director of An Phat Trading and Service Company Limited, Gia Nghia City (Dak Nong) said that the business is borrowing capital from the bank but the maturity date is 6 months.

“The imported goods have not been exported yet, the capital turnover is not enough and we have to worry about the bank maturity. We hope that the bank will consider extending the loan term to help businesses have time to rotate capital,” Ms. Diu suggested.

Chairman of Dak Nong Province Business Association Nguyen Tri Ky emphasized that the association has over 70% of businesses operating in the agricultural sector.

Many businesses have not been able to access capital at banks in Dak Nong.

Of these, more than 60% of member businesses are borrowing capital from banks. Therefore, the most important issue of concern for the business community today is the need for capital.

“Currently, the Government and the State Bank have issued timely instructions, but very few businesses have access to capital. This is because many criteria and conditions are set by different credit institutions. Credit institutions need to be more open in implementing loan conditions and procedures, creating favorable conditions for businesses to develop,” Mr. Ky emphasized.

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According to the State Bank of Dak Nong Province Branch, by the end of September 2024, Dak Nong had more than 800 out of about 4,700 operating enterprises borrowing capital from credit institutions in the area, with outstanding loans of nearly VND 7,230 billion; accounting for 14.61% of the total outstanding loans of the entire economy in Dak Nong.

Stuck in mechanisms and policies

According to the Department of Planning and Investment of Dak Nong province, one of the reasons why the province's investment attraction has not been as expected is due to planning and bauxite problems.

Sectoral plans such as land use, bauxite, minerals, 3 types of forest planning, urban planning, etc. are currently overlapping. This leads to difficulties in building project information to attract investment.

Dak Nong still has mechanisms and policies that affect investors.

“The current difficulty is still being stuck with bauxite planning and provincial planning. Many investors are interested and intend to invest, but it takes a long time to complete the related planning,” said Director of the Department of Planning and Investment Tran Dinh Ninh.

Not to mention, the work of site clearance and creating clean land funds is not consistent with the investment attraction orientation, leading to difficulties in investment promotion.

In addition, Dak Nong's infrastructure, especially transportation infrastructure, still has limitations. Interested and intending investors will have to spend a lot of time to complete related planning.

Dak Nong is stuck in bauxite planning so many projects cannot be implemented.

For example, Van Thuong Joint Stock Company (Ho Chi Minh City). The field that the enterprise wants to invest in Dak Nong is related to high-tech agriculture.

In early 2022, both projects of the unit encountered policy problems, so investment procedures could not be completed. The enterprise worked with the Provincial People's Committee many times over a long period of time before gradually getting the problems resolved.

“Dak Nong’s efforts to improve the investment environment are real. However, the implementation is still hampered by policies. This causes businesses to waste a lot of time in completing investment procedures to implement projects,” said Mr. Nguyen Duc Loc, representative of Van Thuong Company.

According to Director of the Department of Planning and Investment Tran Dinh Ninh, investment attraction in Dak Nong has changed in recent years, but not much. Currently, the area of 3 types of forests and bauxite area in the province is very large.

Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) has made breakthroughs, businesses' trust in Dak Nong government has improved more

Touching anything is a problem. If it is like this, Dak Nong cannot attract investment projects. This means that the province will find it very difficult to develop.

"If the difficulties and obstacles related to bauxite are not resolved soon, Dak Nong will continue to have no space for development," Mr. Ninh affirmed.

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In 2023, Dak Nong attracted 16 projects with a total capital of VND 2,500 billion. Of which, the province approved 10 projects with a total investment of nearly VND 1,800 billion, a decrease of 3 projects compared to 2022. In the first 9 months of 2024, Dak Nong attracted only 1 project (excluding FDI projects), with a total investment of VND 13 billion. Compared to the same period in 2023, there was a decrease of 3 projects, a decrease of VND 443 billion in capital.

Source: https://baodaknong.vn/cai-thien-moi-truong-dau-tu-dak-nong-van-chua-het-nhung-rao-can-232985.html