Ha Noi chases FDI with one-stop-shop approach

HA NOI — Ha Noi is dedicated to creating the most favourable conditions for foreign investors, particularly those from Singapore, to invest in its industrial and export processing zones (IZs&EPZs) through a one-stop-shop mechanism and incentives in taxes and land use.

The director of the municipal IZs&EPZs Management Board's Information and Investment Promotion Centre Nguyen Si Hien made the statement during a conference organised last Sunday.

Singaporean firms have to date pumped US$3.2 billion into 104 projects in Ha Noi. That pushed Singapore into becoming the second largest foreign investor in the city behind South Korea.

However, only eleven projects, capitalised at $100 million, have invested in the city's IZs to date. Hien said that this figure remained modest compared to the great investment potential between Singapore companies and its IZs.

Currently, eight of the 19 IZs approved by the PM in Ha Noi have reported full land occupancy.

"From now until 2015, the city will have 20 IZs put into operation, which will offer great opportunities for Singaporean investors," he noted.

Viet Nam was an important market to Singapore, said the Second Secretary of the Singaporean Embassy in Viet Nam Raymond Lui.

International Enterprise Singapore (IE Singapore), an agency to promote the overseas growth of Singapore-based enterprises, has opened 30 representative offices worldwide and Viet Nam was the only country in Southeast Asia that has two offices, one in Ha Noi and the another in HCM City.

As of September, Singapore had 792 valid projects valued at $17.6 billion in Viet Nam. The island-nation's investors have gradually shifted their attention to Ha Noi and some northern provinces recently rather than their previous focus in the south, he said.

Many Singaporean businesses have committed to long-term investments in the country such as Sembcorp, APL, DBS, OCBC, UOB and Mapletree.

Singaporean enterprises wanted to invest in Viet Nam, especially in processing, healthcare and logistics, in the coming years, said Vietnamese Investment Counsellor in Singapore Le Truong Son.

Up to 20 Vietnamese companies had invested over $100 million in Singapore thus far, Son said.

Source: vnagency.com.vn