Da Nang to become gateway to regional market
The Da Nang government has called for investors to come to the central coast city for business and use it as a gateway to the Thai. Lao and Burma markets.
The Central government has chosen Da Nang as the hub of the central focal economic zone, an advantage which investors can make use of to expand operations, Tran Van Minh, vice chairman of the city, said on November 30.
Speaking at a conference held at the Saigon Times Club in HCM City to beef up investment activity in Da Nang, Minh said Da Nang was also one of the three central localities lying along the East-West Economic Corridor (E WEC).
The 1,500-kilometer road corridor links Vietnam, Laos, northeastern Thailand and Burma, facilitating trade, economic, investment and tourism cooperation between the four countries.
Lam Quang Minh, deputy director of the Service of Planning and Investment and the Investment Promotion Centre in Da Nang, told the conference that the corridor would allow for a reduction in costs for goods and passenger transport between the four countries.
When the corridor is in place, Da Nang port will serve as a gateway to these markets as well as a transhipment point for goods coming from Vietnam’s central and Central Highlands regions, and the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS), Minh said.
By then, Da Nang will become an attractive place for business and investment. To prepare for upcoming opportunities, the city is upgrading the capacity of Da Nang International Airport to four to five million passengers a year, devising a tourism development plan, and developing infrastructure for the service sector.
Tran Van Minh said the city was also focusing on the industrial sector, with five industrial parks covering 1,300 hectares underway.
To lure foreign investors, the city will be responsible for site clearance, which is a headache for keen investors elsewhere in the country, and for compensation.
The city is ready to cover 100% site clearance compensation costs for foreign-invested projects worth US$20 million or above, and domestic projects valued at 30 billion dong or above. And 50% support will go to smaller ventures.
Investors committed to areas outside industrial parks (IP)will enjoy land rent exemptions for seven to 12 years from the first start-up year. Land rent exemptions or reductions for those located in IPs will last six to 11 years. Corporate income tax incentives will also be offered to foreign investors.
