Last year saw the first projects licensed into Phu My 3 Industrial Zone exclusively catering to Japanese investors in supporting industries. Among them is Nitori Ba Ria-Vung Tau Company, a subsidiary of Japan’s Nitori Holdings. The firm got an investment certificate for its project there in November 2015.
Speaking at an investment certificate award ceremony, Nitori Akio, CEO of Notori Holdings, said some US$150 million would be spent on a 40-hectare factory to manufacture and assemble furniture and furnishing items, mostly for export to Japan. The project has a capacity of around two million products per year. Work on the project will start in June 2016 and it will be operational one year later, creating around 1,000 jobs. “Nitori’s project in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province will create new jobs and industrial products and help lure more Japanese investment into the province,” said the province’s chairman Nguyen Van Trinh.
Toshio Kazama, an expert from the Japan Desk, said the southern province has strengths in deepwater seaport services and natural resources such as oil and gas, which are a foundation for material production like steel, petrochemicals and energy. The province’s basic material sector is high in the supply chain in the southern region with Dong Nai, Binh Duong and HCMC at the lower end, so it is expected to help raise localization and competitiveness. Ba Ria-Vung Tau is different from other provinces in the supply chain, so it can lure capital into supporting industries in the coming time.
Bui Thi Dung, director of the Department of Industry and Trade, said Ba Ria-Vung Tau is on the Government’s target for supporting industries development. The resolution of the sixth Party Committee Congress of the province still treats supporting industries as a priority for investment attraction. Considering Japan as a strategic partner in supporting industries development, the province arranged many investment promotion delegations, held seminars and joined forums and exhibitions in Japan last year. Local government also set up a connection window in Kawasaki City, continued running a Japanese website for Japanese firms, established the Japan Desk with support from Japanese consultants and trained 1,000 technicians for supporting industries.
Embracing opportunities
In 2016, Vietnam will see more free trade agreements signed or taking effect. Notably, the signing in early February of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement will bring a lot of trade opportunities, and fuel FDI capital inflows. There has been a large investment shift from China (which is not a TPP member) to Southeast Asia, including Vietnam, as investors are looking to benefit from the TPP. In recent times, many Japanese business delegations have surveyed Vietnam to sound out business opportunities in supporting industries. Hirotaka Yasuzumi, chief representative of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) in HCMC, affirms that Japan is one of the strategic partners of Ba Ria-Vung Tau with many Japanese firms showing interest in the locality. The southern province is now home to 23 Japanese-invested projects, especially in the steel, glass and petrochemical fields. “To speed up economic and trade ties between Japanese businesses and Ba Ria-Vung Tau, we always supply adequate information about the province for Japanese firms,” Hirotak says.
According to the province’s chairman Trinh, the province will continue completing the list of industrial products and supporting industries in tandem with its development strategy in 2016, investor selection criteria and restricted sectors, which will be sent to the provincial Party Standing Committee for approval. More support will be given to construction of industrial zones and clusters with a focus on Phu My 3 Specialized Industrial Zone and the first phase of Da Bac Industrial Zone and to investors of the Long Son Petrochemical Complex, which is expected to start construction in the first quarter.
Top priority given to supporting industries
Nguyen Hong Linh, alternate member of the Party Central Committee, Party secretary and chairman of the People’s Council of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, said top priority will be given to supporting industries when it comes to attracting capital. Local government will focus on large-scale projects using advanced technologies, and making value-added products. Supporting industries for engineering-manufacturing, plastic-chemistry, petro-chemistry and maritime equipment will be prioritized to gradually turn Ba Ria-Vung Tau into a basic material production center of the region.
Theo Ngo Gia - thesaigontimes.vn