BacNinh (VNA) – The authorities of northern Bac Ninh province alwayscreate favourable conditions for, and work to promptly remove difficulties facingforeign businesses, including those from the Republic of Korea (RoK), toeffectively operate in the locality, Secretary of the provincial Party Committee DaoHong Lan has said.

Lan made the statement during a reception for Korean Ambassadorto Vietnam Park Noh-wan on January 13, during which she called on Koreaninvestors to pour more investment into Bac Ninh in the time to come, especiallyin development of smart cities, education-training, hi-tech agriculture,supporting industry, environmental protection and energy saving, and automobileand component manufacturing.

The provincial authorities will also make iteasier for local enterprises to export goods, especially handicraft products,to the Korean market, she noted.

According to the official, Bac Ninh is one of the provinceswith the fast growth rate and leading indicators in the country. The province ishome to 10 concentrated industrial parks, attracting more than 1,500foreign-invested enterprises from 37 countries and territories.

TheRoK is taking the lead in terms of foreign investment in Bac Ninh,with 945 projects totalling 13.27 billion USD, accounting for about 66.33percent of the total amount of foreign investment in the province, Lan stressed.

Recently, the provincial authorities have worked closely with relevant agencies toallow foreign experts, managers, highly skilled workers, mainly from the RoK, toenter the province for working, she noted.

Inorder to minimise difficulties for businesses amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Bac Ninh has extended the deadline for tax payments for Korean firms, benefiting 178 enterpriseswith the total amount of 1.15 trillion VND (nearly 49.9 million USD).

Fore his part, Park highly appreciated Bac Ninh's achievements insocio-economic development and foreign investment attraction, and thanked thelocal authorities for their policies to support Korean enterprises amiddifficulties posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

He expressed his hope that Bac Ninh will have more mechanisms and policies tofacilitate Korean firms’ investment, thus further contributing to the province'seconomic development.

The ambassador promised to encourage Korean businesses to explore and invest in Bac Ninh province, especially in developing smart cities andhospitals, protecting the environment, and cooperting in education-training./.