Hải Phòng remains FDI magnet

A view of Hải Phòng Port. The northern port city is hosting 967 FDI projects underway worth US$30.65 billion. — VNA/VNS Photo Trần Việt

HÀ NỘI — The northern port city of Hải Phòng has been a foreign investment magnet, hosting 967 FDI projects underway worth US$30.65 billion.

To clinch its position as one of the leading localities in FDI attraction, along with optimising its advantages as the largest gateway to the sea in the north, the city has exerted great efforts in improving the investment environment and diversifying investment promotion.

It sent a delegation led by Secretary of the municipal Party Committee Lê Tiên Châu to China from August 4-10 to conduct investment promotion activities.

The delegation held many working sessions at localities, universities, and businesses of China, including ZTE and TCL groups in Shenzhen city, Guangdong province, which are influential technology and digital firms not only in China but the world over.

At an investment promotion conference in the city, Hải Phòng granted investment licences to seven investors with a combined investment of nearly $200 million, along with four memoranda of understanding on cooperation.

At the event, Châu briefed participants on the potentials and advantages of Hải Phòng, one of the three major cities of Việt Nam and an economic hub of the northern region with a high socio-economic growth rate. In the first half of 2024, the city lured $1.5 billion of FDI.

Hải Phòng has diverse types of road, sea, rail, waterway and air transport, and owns a long-lasting industrial sector. Its Đình Vũ – Cát Hải has been the most successful economic zone in Việt Nam.

Currently, Hải Phòng is establishing a 20,000-hectare Southern Coastal Economic Zone in a green and ecological direction, which will bring many advantages to investors along with advantages in human resources and life quality, said the city leader.

He also highlighted the city’s efforts to accompany and support investors, especially in administrative procedures, labour training and land rent.

According to the city People’s Committee, Hải Phòng is hosting 975 valid projects, many of which are invested by world leading firms such as LG, Bridgestone, Regina Miracle, Pegatron, SK, Nipro Pharma, Aeon, and Tongwei.

Jang Jin Ke, General Director of Tongwei Vietnam, said that his company has received great support from the city throughout its establishment and operation here.

He held that Hải Phòng’s investment promotion activities in China can enhance the investment efficiency and quickly identify investment opportunities, helping the city respond rapidly to market changes, thereby contributing to promoting economic development in the context of globalisation.

At a conference jointly held in early August by the Party Committee of Hải Phòng and the Party Central Committee’s Economic Commission to review the five-year implementation of Resolution No 45-NQ/TW issued by the Politburo on January 24, 2019, on building and developing Hai Phong until 2030 with a vision to 2045, many experts affirmed that Hải Phòng is a bright spot in the country’s economic and social development, particularly in FDI attraction. They contributed their ideas for Hải Phòng to develop in a breakthrough manner.

Associate Prof. Dr. Trần Đình Thiên, member of the Government Advisory Board, affirmed that despite many challenges in the world and in the country, Hải Phòng’s growth results have still been very positive with a growth rate of over 12 per cent in 2023, which is very impressive.

In the coming time, it is necessary to empower Hải Phòng so that the city can become a model of economic development associated with the development of economic zones, he suggested.

Meanwhile, Dr. Võ Trí Thành, former Vice Director of the Central Institute for Economic Research and Management, noted that in the last five years, Hải Phòng has made significant contributions to the country in industrial development.

He advised the city to focus on promoting free trade areas and logistics in the coming time. — VNS