Can Tho offers business support solutions

Seafood processing is an advantage of Can Tho

Stable growth

In the first seven months of this year, the index of industrial production (IIP) in Can Tho grew 6.95 percent compared with the same period in 2014, with the production value reaching an estimated over VND55.79 trillion, equal to 54.1 percent of the annual plan and up 8.9 percent compared with the same period last year.

Retail sales of goods and revenue from services totaled nearly VND89.66 trillion, equal to 69 percent of the annual plan and up 12.9 percent compared with the same period last year.

Currently, 224 investment projects are ongoing in Can Tho with total registered capital of US$1.94 billion, of which US$866.4 million has been disbursed.

According to the Can Tho City Industry and Trade Department, however, unfavorable changes in export markets as well as increases in US dollar to Japanese Yen and euro exchange rates in recent times have created difficulties for Can Tho’s key export products such as rice, and seafood.

To improve the situation, the government and the city of Can Tho have put in place many business support policies. Examples include a program designed to connect banks and businesses that offers preferential interest rates to businesses, and the decision to cease applying difficult standards on tra fish exports.

Business support solutions

Can Tho City Industry and Trade Department Director Nguyen Minh Toai said the city had created favorable conditions for local businesses to overcome difficulties in terms of capital and market development, and that in the time to come, the department and the Can Tho Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion Center would continue promoting trade through organizing fairs and tightening relations with the consulates general of other countries in Vietnam to increase the contacts between local and foreign businesses, and creating favorable conditions for businesses to boost domestic sales and exports.

Workshops will be organized to provide businesses with timely information about tariffs, tax reduction roadmaps, and export markets’ requirements in terms of product quality, promoting their penetration into foreign markets.

To create favorable conditions for Can Tho to attract investment into high-tech industries, the prime minister recently decided to establish the Republic of Korea-Vietnam Incubator Park (KVIP) based in the Tra Noc 2 Industrial Zone. The construction of KVIP commenced in 2013 with investment of over US$21 million (US$17.7 million of official development assistance - ODA - capital from the Korean government, and US$3.43 million of reciprocal capital from the Vietnamese side), and is nearing to its completion. KVIP Managing Director Kim Hee Sup said the park would attract investment in the fields of rice, seafood, and agricultural engineering, aiming to enhance the global competitiveness of these sectors of the Mekong Delta.

Thanh Thanh