Tien Giang praised for unity in investment climate improvement

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc (front, C), officials and representatives of businesses at the conference pose for a photo - Photo: VNA

Addressing more than 500 delegates from central agencies, localities and businesses, he said Tien Giang boasts huge potential and advantages for socio-economic development. It has issued open investment policies, thus facilitating production and businesses activities and creating jobs for local people.

With a favourable location making it a gateway of the Mekong Delta, the province also acts as a link connecting the region with Ho Chi Minh City.

The PM hoped that it will build on the attained successes and remove obstacles and shortcomings to strongly attract investment, thereby creating momentum for fast and sustainable socio-economic development and becoming a driving force of the Mekong Delta region.

He also called for businesses’ support for local investment attraction policies and engagement in ensuring social welfare for the sake of both Tien Giang and Vietnam’s development.

Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Le Van Huong said Tien Giang’s economy has grown steadily in recent years with annual economic growth rate averaging 8.2 percent since 2016 – an impressive figure amid a number of economic difficulties. Most of the key indexes like budget revenue, job creation and export turnover have increased year on year.

With a population of over 1.7 million, Tien Giang has an abundant workforce and is strong at rice cultivation, fruit tree farming, animal husbandry, trade, services, and industry. It produces more than 1.3 million tonnes of rice, 1.4 million tonnes of fruits, 13 million poultry and 500,000 pigs each year which are also important material supply sources for the processing industry, he noted.

Huong said his province has implemented consistent investment attraction policies. Notably, it has paid heed to reforming administrative procedures and creating an optimal investment climate and a favourable legal corridor for businesses.

As a result, Tien Giang is now home to some 4,800 enterprises with about 700 new firms established every year, a sharp rise from 165 companies in 1995. In the first half of 2018, more than 7.2 trillion VND (US$309 million), up three-fold from a year earlier, was poured into 18 new investment projects and three existing ones in the province.

At the meeting, provincial authorities presented investment approval certificates to 30 projects worth nearly 16.2 trillion VND (US$695.4 million) which will be carried out in 2018 and 2019. They also introduced 19 projects in need of investments in the following years.