Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc speaks at the ceremony to announce the expansion of the Chu Lai Open Economic Zone in Quang Nam on December 16. (Photo: VNA)Quang Nam (VNA) – From a barren and arid land, the Chu LaiOpen Economic Zone in the central province of Quang Nam has made itself afertile area for industrial development, according to Prime Minister NguyenXuan Phuc.
This area used to be a white sand and arid land with four “Nos” – Noinfrastructure, No labour force, No investor, and No market – 15 years ago; butnow it has grown into a major economic zone hosting over 100 industrialprojects, the Government leader told a ceremony to announce the expansion ofthe Chu Lai Open Economic Zone in Quang Nam on December 16.
The PM attributed the major part of the economic zone’s success to theTruong Hai Auto Corporation (Thaco), who pioneered to invest in the zone.
Thaco was the first Vietnamese firm to develop a mechanical automobileindustrial complex in the zone, he said, adding that it was a right approach todevelop the support industry for Vietnam’s automobile manufacturing. Thecompany now has more than 30 state-of-the-art facilities and is a great examplefor effective cooperation between domestic and foreign enterprises, he noted.
Phuc further said that with the expansion of the Chu Lai Open EconomicZone, the government aims to turn it into a national hub for support industriesfor automobile, petro-chemistry, textiles-garment, and hi-tech.
He asked ministries and state agencies to take drastic andcomprehensive steps to support investors, encourage innovation and improvenational competitiveness in the economic zone.
At the event, the Ministry of Construction announced the PM decisionapproving the newly-adjusted planning of the Chu Lai Open Economic Zone towards2035, with a vision to 2050. Accordingly, the economic zone will be expanded tomore than 27,000 hectares. It will have three duty-free zones, covering a totalarea of over 1,000 hectares, including a 225-hectare zone located at Chu LaiAirport.
It is expected to house 250,000 people by 2025 and 550,000 by 2035.
The Chu Lai OpenEconomic Zone attracted 23 projects in 2017, of which three were foreigninvestment projects worth 16 million USD.
Total investment of1.4 billion USD was made during the year, 13.5 times as much as the yearbefore.
Since 2003, the zone has lured 138projects with a total registered investment capital of 3.68 billion USD. Amongthose were 34 FDI projects worth 1 billion USD.-VNA
VNA
