(VOVworld) – Despite economic difficulties during 2015, Dong Nai remained one of Vietnam’s leading provinces in foreign direct investment attraction, earning 2.4 billion USD, up 250% against the set target. The achievements together with improved infrastructure and administrative procedure reforms have opened a path for Dong Nai to attract more FDI this year.

To date, Dong Nai has licensed nearly 1,600 FDI projects, worth a total of nearly 24 billion USD. Last year alone, it had 186 FDI projects, 100 of them new projects totaling nearly 1.8 billion USD.

(Photo: VNA)

Most of the new investors come from Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Taiwan, mainly operating in advanced and environmentally-friendly technologies and support industries.

The achievements are attributed to efforts by the local administration who have held many trade promotion delegations abroad, upgraded the infrastructure in industrial parks, and speeded up administrative procedure reforms.

Mai Van Nhon, Deputy Director of the Management Board of Dong Nai Industrial Zones Authority (DIZA), said:

“Administrative procedure reforms play a key role for enterprises to make investment decisions or expand the existing production. Our motto is to renovate, initiate, and offer the best service for businesses. We always do anything we can to relieve burdens for enterprises. It takes a maximum of 60% of the time needed to deal with administrative procedures in comparison with other places.”

Now it takes only five days to get an investment license from the Management Board of Dong Nai Industrial Zones Authority. More particularly, the province has stepped up administrative procedures in the tax and customs sector. The provincial customs department has launched a program linking the bureau and businesses under which the latest regulations in exports and imports have been updated to answer enterprises’ queries quickly.

To further attract FDI, in addition to the above mentioned measures, provincial authorities and leaders from the relevant agencies have regularly organized talks with the business community to meet their requirements.

According to Phan Thi My Thanh, Deputy Chairwoman of Dong Nai People’s Committee, “currently there are many small-scale social housing projects which have been given the green light to change to houses for workers. But these haven’t been realized. Enterprises can work with investors to make them come true. We really need support from consulates, associations and their branches to provide us more regularly with information relating to business difficulties so that we can help them in time.”

In 2016 Dong Nai has set a target to reach 1 billion USD in FDI attraction.