Last year, despite the high growth rate of the industrial sector, some analysts still noted shortcomings, including a failure to fully exploit the advantages of domestic industrial zones. What do you think?

In 2005, domestic industrial zones made great progress. Some provinces saw growth rates of 35-40 per cent.

The Ministry of Industry has set up an agency to administer local industrial departments.
This agency has strong co-operation with local areas, especially industrial zones set up for small- and medium-sized enterprises and in remote areas like the Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) to help them develop industry.

What are the measures to attract investment to remote and mountainous areas?

Recently, the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Finance co-operated to compile special policies to attract investors to these areas. We will also compile suggestions to be sent to the Prime Minister.

Can you give us more specific information about these suggestions?

As infrastructure is poor and getting products to market difficult, we need solutions to attract investors. We should create an open policy on land clearance, land lease prices, terms of land use, transportation costs and building infrastructure for industrial complexes.

Second, we should promote commercial activity in these areas. A difficult thing in remote areas is that they have products for which it is difficult to find a consumer market. We need to find ways to set up agencies in these areas to find end markets for industrial output.

Many companies like Vinamilk and various tobacco and textile companies have applied this method. They have supplied seed and breeding stock to farmers, for instance, and taught them to cultivate. They then buy the end-products from them.

Third, we need good human resources. The Ministry of Industry has lately developed a programme to help provinces train managers and increase the skills of workers.
Finally, we need a plan to promote the advantages of each province.

We cannot develop industry in every area. Some places should develop only small hydroelectric works, some should concentrate on exploiting mineral resources, and some should remain focused on agricultural and forestry products.

Some believe the steel industry is developing unevenly, with too many focusing on construction steel. What do you think?

The development of our country’s steel industry depends on historical factors. For a long time, we produced steel to meet the demands of war. We weren’t able to develop a diversified steel industry.

In the process of rebuilding, the demands for construction increased. It also costs less to produce building steel, so enterprises have gravitated to producing this kind of steel.

The Ministry has warned enterprises not to produce building steel because there is already an oversupply, but it has been difficult to persuade enterprises. It’s the same situation as exists among beer, cigarette, cement, and sugar companies.

Proper investment in the steel industry will require billions of Vietnamese dong. Not every private enterprise has the needed capacity.

The Government has just approved our ministry’s plan to develop the steel sector.
In the next five years, the demand for steel around the world will increase. Viet Nam should produce steel ingot and steel.

The Government has approved a project to exploit the Quy Sa iron mine in Lao Cai and a project to co-operate with Kunming Co in China to produce 500,000 tonnes of steel ingot per year.

The productivity of Thai Nguyen Steel Co will be increased to 500,000 tonnes of steel ingot per year. These projects will begin during the first years of the five-year plan.