The northern port city of Hải Phòng planned to establish a number of new industrial zones (IZs) this year, head of the provincial management board of economic zones Phạm Văn Mợi said.

 

Among these zones are the 752ha Xuân Cầu-Cát Hải industrial and non-tariff zone worth more than VNĐ14.1 trillion (US$61 million), and the 93.3ha Cầu Cựu-An Lão IZ expected to cost VNĐ845 billion ($36.3 million). The two projects are being verified by the Ministry of Planning and Investment and will be submitted to the Prime Minister for approval later.

 

The board was selecting investors for other IZ development projects such as An Hưng-Đại Bản IZ in An Dương District; Giang Biên II IZ in Vĩnh Bảo District; and the Kiến Thuy, Sao Mai, Việt Phát and Tiên Thanh IZs in Tiên Lãng District, Mơ said.

 

It was also seeking approval from the municipal People’s Committee to develop infrastructure at Thảo Nguyên IZ on a site of 200ha with total investment capital of VNĐ4.1 trillion ($177 million), and $92 million for Nam Tràng Cát IZ covering  more than 200ha, he added.

 

Currently, Hải Phòng is home to 13 IZs, with nine in the Đình Vũ-Cát Hải economic zone (EZ).

 

In 2019, these zones lured $1.43 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI), 3 per cent higher than the yearly target. The FDI came from 58 new foreign-invested projects and about 100 others that increased capital and share purchases. As of last year, they had attracted 367 foreign-invested projects with capital totalling $14.8 billion.

 

Besides FDI, these zones also drew more than VNĐ15.42 trillion in domestic investment last year, raising the total number of domestic projects to 162 with a combined investment of VNĐ149.52 trillion by the end of 2019.

 

The positive performance was attributed to the country’s effective economic development strategy and the city's efforts to accelerate administrative reforms with a focus on slashing time and costs to fulfill investment procedures and solving difficulties facing businesses in a timely manner. — VNS