The Trung Luong-My Thuan expressway project is under construction. Vinh Long Province is expected to seize many opportunities to attract foreign direct investment when the Trung Luong-My Thuan expressway is opened to traffic. (Photo: Trung Chanh)
Strong investment in traffic infrastructure in the Mekong Delta region, in line with the prime minister’s directive, has created opportunities for the region’s provinces and cities to attract FDI.
Speaking at the conference titled “Promoting investment for Vinh Long Province in 2019,” held in the province, Nguyen Phuong Lam, director of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry's Can Tho branch, remarked, “Vinh Long Province will be at an advantage in its economic development, especially for FDI attraction, when the expressway is put into service.”
Taking Tien Giang Province as an example, Lam noted that since the HCMC-Trung Luong expressway was opened to traffic in 2010, between 2010 and 2019, the province has attracted 96 FDI projects with total registered capital of US$2.1 billion compared with 17 FDI projects worth US$300 million in the 1998-2010 period.
“We expected Vinh Long Province to become one of the provinces that would utilize the advantages presented by the Trung Luong-My Thuan expressway to boost its economic growth in the coming months,” Lam said.
Lam pointed out that the province has attracted many investors from European countries, whereas other localities in the Mekong Delta region often attract Asian investors, proving that many major foreign investors have realized the province’s potential.
Lu Quang Ngoi, vice chairman of Vinh Long Province, said that the province now has 235 valid investment projects, including 63 FDI ones, with estimated registered capital of VND25.6 trillion and US$641 million.
In March last year, at an investment promotion conference, the province attracted 32 investment projects with total registered capital of over VND23.9 trillion, Ngoi remarked. Eight projects have been put into operation to date, whereas six others are under construction and five projects are in the process of completing procedures for construction.
Besides this, 12 others with total registered capital of VND16.6 trillion are being considered by departments and agencies, Ngoi explained, adding that “one project could not continue for investment due to changes in policy announced by the Government Office.”
The Vinh Long government granted investment registration certificates for six projects and signed memoranda of understanding on six others, worth a combined VND47 trillion and US$51 million, on the sidelines of the conference.
