Ha Tinh Province is making efforts to accelerate administrative reform, aiming to transform its growth model, improve the investment and business environment, and tap into new development potential in line with the strategy outlined in the provincial master plan for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision towards 2050.
The Vung Ang Economic Zone has been identified as a key growth driver for Ha Tinh Province. It serves as a centre providing public administrative services and other supporting services related to investment, production, and business activities for investors in the economic zone and industrial parks across the province.
The progress and innovations in administrative reform by the Ha Tinh Economic Zone Authority will contribute to enhancing the investment climate which the province has been painstakingly working on.
In the administrative reform index assessment of Ha Tinh Province, the Economic Zone Authority was among the units with relatively poor results. Explaining the reasons for this, the leadership of the provincial Economic Zone Authority noted that its “one-stop-shop” mechanism has not yet fully realised its maximum efficiency due to the fact that the authority’s management across many areas depends on the delegation of power from specialised agencies.
Certain tasks have not been delegated to the Ha Tinh Economic Zone Authority, while some tasks fall under the authority of central ministries and agencies, which has caused delays in administrative procedure processing for investors and enterprises and prevented the timely utilisation of investment opportunities.
The current legal framework for state management in economic zones is only at the level of a government decree. The draft Law on Economic Zones and Industrial Parks is being developed by the Ministry of Planning and Investment. Some legal regulations are being adjusted and changed, leading to obstacles in the implementation process.
The leadership of the Ha Tinh Economic Zone Authority assessed that although the Vung Ang Economic Zone has been identified as one of the eight key economic zones prioritised for investment from the state budget during the 2016-2020 period, the public investment capital allocated by the central government during this period was meagre, at only 536 billion VND, equivalent to 8.76% of the figure for the previous five years.
As a result, essential infrastructure such as transport, electricity, water supply and drainage, and wastewater treatment within the Vung Ang Economic Zone has not been able to meet the development needs. Additionally, site clearance for some projects has been prolonged, further affecting investment progress.
Regarding the investment and business environment, according to the 2023 PCI ranking, Ha Tinh Province is among the lower-ranked provinces and cities. The main reason why enterprises and investors have given a low assessment of Ha Tinh’s competitiveness index last year is that the indicators related to land access, time costs, informal costs, business support index, and labour training index have not yet met the development requirements.
Commenting on the above situation, Nguyen Duc Thang, Deputy Director of the Ha Tinh Department of Planning and Investment, stated that some units and localities have not yet fully recognised the purpose and significance of improving the investment and business environment and enhancing the provincial competitiveness index.
Some civil servants are not professional enough and lack responsibility in carrying out their public duties and serving the people. The coordination between some departments and agencies with the grassroots authorities is still not good, leading to errors in the development and updating of land use plans, which affects enterprises’ access to land and business expansion.
With full awareness of its own weaknesses and limitations in attracting investment, Ha Tinh Province has resolutely directed its units and localities to make efforts to resolve the existing problematic issues in order to help strengthen the confidence of enterprises and investors in the investment and business environment in the province.
Phan Thanh Bien, Chairman of Ky Anh Town, said that according to the province’s development orientation, the growth of the Vung Ang Economic Zone and Ky Anh Town is based on four main pillars: the manufacturing industries, with a priority for high-tech, low-environmental-impact post-steel processing industries; seaports and logistics; energy and power generation; and trade, services and tourism.
To create development space for these pillars, Ky Anh Town will continue making communication efforts so that all members of the public fully understand the development orientation of the Vung Ang Economic Zone and Ky Anh Town. The town will then focus on accelerating land clearance; recovering land from projects with slow implementation to avoid wastage of land resources. The town’s authorities will also strive to ensure public order, security and social welfare to serve enterprises, investors, workers and residents.
“In the time ahead, Ky Anh Town hopes that the central ministries and agencies will pay attention to and prioritise investment resources, as well as ensure the synchronised connection of the national and regional transport infrastructure with the Vung Ang Economic Zone and Ky Anh Town,” said Ky Anh Chairman Phan Thanh Bien.
He also underlined the need to complete the detailed planning for the land, water and seaport areas of Ha Tinh Province with a vision towards 2050 in order to create new drivers of growth for the Vung Ang Economic Zone and Ky Anh Town.
In addition to seriously evaluating and recognising the shortcomings and weaknesses in attracting investment, Ha Tinh Province is making relentless efforts to quickly implement solutions to resolve and remove these issues. The province is ready to create favourable conditions for investors looking for investment opportunities in the Vung Ang Economic Zone and the province.
Since 2021, the Vung Ang Economic Zone has attracted 22 new investment projects with a total registered capital of approximately 3.336 billion USD, equivalent to 95.3% of the target. Currently, major domestic and foreign corporations are researching and working on several large production and business projects that will play a leading role in the provincial and regional economies.
In the future, based on the approved National Master Plan and Provincial Master Plan, Ha Tinh will continue to direct its units and localities to complete the sectoral and specialised planning systems, so that enterprises and investors have more opportunities to choose suitable investment and business fields that align with their strengths and maximise the outstanding advantages of Ha Tinh.
The province will continue to prioritise resources to complete the critical infrastructure system, especially in the areas of transport, energy, information and communications, digital economy, logistics, the environment, and climate change adaptation.
