During the Southern Key Economic Zone Investment Mart 2007, which opened in HCM City on Tuesday, deputy minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Duc Hoa said the zone’s master plan to 2020 called for a GDP growth rate 1.2-fold higher than the country’s GDP growth in the 2006-10 period, and 1.1-fold higher in the 2011-20 period.

More than 200 investors from China, Germany, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, UK, the US as well as other countries and investment funds operating in HCM City are attending the two-day event held by the MPI and the HCM City People’s Committee.

The fair aims to show the Southern Economic Zone’s investment environment and potential business opportunities and introduce 400 projects calling for investment in the zone, according to the chairman of HCM City People’s Committee, Le Hoang Quan.

With 65 industrial parks covering more than 20,000ha, the zone is also considered the country’s biggest industrial hub. It has served not only as the country’s scientific, technological and commercial hub, but also as the nation’s major energy centre with massive power complexes in Ba Ria, Phu My (Ba Ria-Vung Tau) and Hiep Phuoc (in HCM City).

The event focuses on the areas of infrastructure, real estate and new urban development, information technology, health care, commerce, education, indirect investment, capital markets, finance, tourism, energy and oil and gas.

Hoa said FDI should be used to exploit the zone’s potential and advantages, and attract projects with advanced technologies and modern management methods.

He said the investment should help restructure the zone’s economy by creating modern industries and urban areas that can earn more foreign currency, boost exports and generate more jobs.

However, Hoa said, projects that could cause environmental problems must be rejected by provincial authorities.

To ensure sustainable development and to keep the annual GDP growth rate of 8-8.5% in the 2006-10 period, Vietnam needed to mobilise investments worth $150bil, with 35% of the amount from overseas sources, including $24bil in FDI.

Hoa said that as of October 2007, Vietnam had licensed 8,166 FDI projects invested by companies from 81 countries and territories, with total registered capital of $74.7bil.

Business comments

FDI had played an important role in changing the country’s economic structure and helping to create jobs and set up key economic zones, as well as increasing the value of production, services and turnover, and bringing in modern and advanced technology, said David Morton, CEO of HSBC in Vietnam.

Vietnam’s WTO membership was the culmination of the work the country had done over many years to take its place in the global economy, Morton said.

Vietnam now had an outward-facing economy, he said, adding that the country had a leading presence in diverse markets including coffee, seafood and textiles.

He said areas in the zone had made strong efforts to further simplify their administrative procedures to present the most attractive investment destinations for investors.

"I believe the two-day Investment Mart is a unique chance for potential investors to get very detailed and practical information on the zone’s business environment," he said.

Je Hyoung Park, CEO of Samsung Vietnam, said that with a high GDP growth rate and high-quality human resources, Vietnam had become a favourable and attractive destination for investors.

Park said Samsung had an expansion plan which allowed the company to manufacture other products in addition to electronics.

William Lean, director of VinaCapital, said more investors were demanding better infrastructure in southern provinces.

To meet the demand, VinaCapital will invest some $4.5bil in Vietnam’s infrastructure in the next two to three years.

Source: Viet Nam News