Binh Thuan pledges to roll out red carpet for investors

At a dialogue with entrepreneurs on January 11, Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Ngoc Hai said Binh Thuan will take numerous measures to improve its business environment and competitiveness.

Administrative reform will be accelerated to shorten the time for procedure processing while authorities will increase dialogues with local firms to address their petitions, Hai added.

According to Nguyen Van Khoa, President of the provincial Tourism Association, Binh Thuan welcomed over 5 million tourists in 2017, up 13.6% from 2016.

The surge shows a positive signal of the tourism sector as well as the province’s sound orientations for tourism development, he said.

Khoa also highlighted difficulties facing local tourism firms due to overlapped planning schemes for tourism, seafood and mining projects, as well as limited tourism infrastructure system, particularly in the key tour of Ham Tien – Mui Ne.

He suggested the province review its planning schemes to facilitate the implementation of coastal tourism projects, while investing in a national tourism area in terms of environment, infrastructure, and transport.

Meanwhile, Do Khac Dong Quan, Vice President of the Binh Thuan Young Entrepreneurs Association, called on the province to continue accelerating administrative reform as well as exempting, reducing and putting off taxes for newly resumed firms.

The province should also facilitate access to preferential loans for small- and medium-sized enterprises, particularly micro-sized businesses, he noted.

During the event, participants also called on local authorities to deal with trade frauds and overlapped inspections by management agencies, which, they said have troubled enterprises.

In 2017, Binh Thuan recorded 716 newly-established firms, up 26 percent from 2016, with a total registered capital of nearly VND17 trillion (US$748.0 million), raising the total number of businesses in the province to 5,624, with a combined registered capital of nearly VND76 trillion (US$3.34 billion).

Last year, 158 projects were licensed, raising the total number of investment projects to 1,386. Many firms also expanded their operations, contributing to the province’s economic development.