New Impulse for Chu Lai OEZ
The Chu Lai OEZ has been built as a modern economic zone with an airport and a wharf, tourist facilities, factories, medical and cultural infrastructure works. Many factories manufacturing cars, float glass and enameled tiles are based in the Chu Lai OEZ. Many resettlement areas and service facilities have been built along National Highway 1A that runs through this economic zone.
The investment projects that are based in the Chu Lai OEZ have generated jobs for nearly 7,000 workers. Companies that are operational here contribute significantly to socioeconomic development in Quang Nam province, which can be seen in the amount of tax they pay to the State budget, their investment and industrial production value. The Chu Lai OEZ plays an increasingly important role in the development of Quang Nam province in the time of economic globalization.
In the first 10 months of 2009, 52 investment projects were licensed to be operational in the Chu Lai OEZ with total registered capital of US$929 million. Those include 17 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects with combined registered capital of US$195 million and 35 domestic investment projects with total registered capital of US$734 million. The Chu Lai OEZ has contributed considerably to making Quang Nam province the second most successful locality nationwide in terms of FDI attraction (behind Ba Ria – Vung Tau).
The Chu Lai OEZ achieved the above FDI attraction results despite the adverse impacts of the global economic recession. In the past six years, the Chu Lai OEZ has made use of its favorable geographic location as well as State preferential policies to make progress in the fields of infrastructure construction, investment attraction, employment generation and human resource training. It has made strategic changes, especially in the field of investment attraction. Initially, the Chu Lai OEZ concentrated on promoting investment in production facilities that are based in industrial zones, but now it is promoting investment in other fields such as tourism, high-grade services and construction of infrastructure for free trade areas, industrial zones, urban areas, and the Chu Lai Airport. The investment environment in the Chu Lai OEZ has been improved in accordance with general international rules.
In fact, however, the Chu Lai OEZ has not brought into full play its potential and advantages. FDI projects account for only one third of all investment in this economic zone, in terms of both investment capital and number of projects. Thus far, more than US$70 million has been invested in infrastructure construction but this is merely State budget allowances (the invested amount is too small compared with the total amount actually needed to be invested in infrastructure construction). The operations of the Ky Ha Port and the Chu Lai Airport remain at small scale. The work related to site clearance and compensation for site clearance is going on still slowly, making investors feel unsecured. Highly qualified and skilled human resources remain scarce.
Recently, for the first time since the Chu Lai OEZ was established, the Ministry of Planning and Investment presided over a scientific workshop to seek new ways to develop the Chu Lai OEZ and other economic zones. Participants in this workshop proposed many measures to bring into play the advantages of the Chu Lai OEZ so that it can develop in a sustainable manner in the future.
In the opinion of Professor, Dr. Vo Dai Luoc from the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, it is necessary to develop the Chu Lai OEZ in the form of an international city, and, Vietnam must look for international-standard foreign investors to take part in the construction of this city. He said that Vietnam must hire one of the world’s leading consulting groups to do the planning work for the entire coastal area of Quang Nam province, including the Chu Lai OEZ.
The vice chairman of the Quang Nam People’s Committee cum the head of the management board of the Chu Lai OEZ, Le Phuoc Thanh, said that the State must accelerate investment in strategic infrastructure works such as the Chu Lai Airport, the Ky Ha Port, the coastal road from Hoi An to Chu Lai that is linked with Dung Quat, and the Da Nang – Chu Lai – Dung Quat Highway. The Government has provided guidelines to increase the frequency of flights on the Tan Son Nhat – Chu Lai air route and to open the Noi Bai – Chu Lai air route to serve investors, State officials and people of Quang Nam and Quang Ngai provinces. The Chu Lai Airport must be developed as an international airport.
Hopefully, with measures proposed by scientists, great efforts of Quang Nam province and the support of the Government, the Chu Lai OEZ will develop strongly and steadily in the future./.
VEN
Tags: Chu Lai OEZ, Vietnam industrial zones
Posted by VBN on Jan 27 2010. Filed under Infrastructure. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
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