Attracting FDI capital in Ba Ria-Vung Tau: Finding quality capital sources

Foreign direct investment (FDI) is one of the key resources for economic development in developing countries like Vietnam. However, after years of attracting FDI at all costs, some localities in Vietnam have recently begun to focus on attracting this capital in a more selective manner. Ba Ria-Vung Tau is one such locality.

Workers at Minh Tri Steel Structure Joint Stock Company in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province. Photo: Hoang Nhi - VNA.

We will not attract investment at all costs.

Since 2018, Ba Ria-Vung Tau province has prioritized accepting only high-quality FDI projects that utilize clean, environmentally friendly technologies and produce high value-added products.

Selective FDI attraction not only helps eliminate unsuitable projects that use outdated technology, consume excessive fuel, and negatively impact the environment, but more importantly, it helps create a solid foundation for the strong breakthrough of Ba Ria-Vung Tau's industrial sector, while contributing to the province's green and sustainable development goals.

As a result, FDI enterprises investing in the province now mainly focus on high-tech fields, participating in global supply chains, and energy saving. According to statistics from the Department of Planning and Investment of Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, the province has currently attracted FDI projects from more than 30 countries and territories around the world .

Among these are many large corporations such as Hyosung Group (South Korea), Austal Group (Australia), CJ Group (South Korea), Marubeni Group (Japan), Samsung Group (South Korea), and Vard Group (Norway).

In particular, the province has attracted a number of large-scale upstream projects with investments exceeding $1 billion, such as the Southern Petrochemical Complex (LSP) mega-project with a total investment of over $5.1 billion, or the Polypropylene Production Plant and Underground Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Storage Facility with a total investment of $1.3 billion.

The Southern Petrochemical Complex project is invested by Long Son Petrochemical Company Limited - a joint venture between Thailand's SCG Group and Vietnam National Petroleum Corporation - on an area of ​​approximately 464 hectares and 194 hectares of water surface for the seaport. This is the first fully integrated petrochemical complex in Vietnam. It is expected to begin operations in early 2024.

Meanwhile, Hyosung Group's polypropylene production plant project has a designed capacity of 650,000 tons of polypropylene per year, of which 300,000 tons will be supplied to the Vietnamese market with superior quality and competitive prices compared to existing imported products, contributing to enhancing the competitiveness of Vietnam's manufacturing industries.

The products of these projects provide abundant raw materials and fuel for downstream processing and manufacturing projects, thereby creating a positive impact in attracting and promoting investment in the province for many projects producing products in the supporting industries.

The underground LPG storage facility is the largest in Southeast Asia and a crucial component of the polypropylene production plant project. Located at depths ranging from over 100m to nearly 200m below sea level, it has a capacity of 240,000 tons. The facility is almost entirely automated with state-of-the-art technology and is encased in a layer of hard granite. This underground storage facility is considered to have almost absolute safety.

Improving the effectiveness of attracting foreign investment.

Despite achieving encouraging results in attracting FDI, Ba Ria-Vung Tau province is still striving to further improve the effectiveness of foreign investment attraction, aiming to attract at least an additional 15 billion USD in FDI by 2025.

Ba Ria-Vung Tau does not attract FDI at all costs. (Illustrative photo: VNA)

In mid-October 2023, the People's Committee of Ba Ria-Vung Tau province issued document No. 13768/UBND-VP directing departments, agencies, and localities to implement Directive No. 14 dated May 24, 2023, of the Prime Minister on a number of tasks and solutions to improve the efficiency of foreign investment in the new period in the province.

In the above document, the Provincial People's Committee requests relevant departments and agencies, the Management Board of Industrial Parks; the Provincial Police; the Provincial Social Insurance; the Customs Department; the Tax Department; and the People's Committees of districts, towns, and cities to review and summarize difficulties and obstacles in the implementation of investment projects in the province, based on their functions and duties, and to advise the Provincial People's Committee on handling the requests of FDI investors within their respective areas of management.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Tho, Chairman of the People's Committee of Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, in the coming time, the province will focus on attracting investment in large-scale projects with modern technology, high spillover effects, high added value, low labor intensity, and environmental friendliness. For existing FDI enterprises, the province encourages the modernization of production lines and new generation technologies to improve productivity, product quality, and energy consumption once the provincial plan is approved, in the spirit of developing a large-scale economy towards sustainable modernization and industrialization.

The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee also requested that departments and agencies focus on attracting investment and supporting the implementation of priority projects related to industrial park and cluster infrastructure; power generation projects, petrochemical and gas projects, etc., according to the list of projects in the Provincial Planning after approval by competent authorities.

In addition, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee also requested relevant departments and agencies to effectively implement policies supporting businesses facing difficulties by exempting, reducing, and extending taxes, fees, and land rent to help businesses overcome financial difficulties and have more resources to invest in expanding production and business.

In addition, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee also requested the provincial investment project support team to improve operational efficiency, in order to remove difficulties for investors and promote the disbursement of domestic and foreign investment capital.

To prepare for large-scale investment projects, along with the readiness of infrastructure in industrial zones and clusters, Ba Ria-Vung Tau is currently investing in the development of connecting transportation systems, including connections to the Cai Mep-Thi Vai seaport area; connections to tourism projects along the coastal road from Phu My town, Vung Tau city to Xuyen Moc district…; connecting routes to the Southern key economic region such as the Bien Hoa-Vung Tau expressway, Phuoc An bridge, and preparing to invest in the Ring Road 4. Furthermore, the province plans to upgrade and complete the investment in National Highways 51, 55, and 56, provincial roads connecting with Dong Nai and Binh Thuan provinces; and upgrade inland waterways…/.

Minh Phuong