Hanoi (VNA) – The building of a legal framework plays an important role informing special administrative-economic zones and attracting investments inthese areas, said Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung at aworkshop in Hanoi on May 18.

Theworkshop on special zones was held ahead of the fifth meeting of the 14th National Assembly, which is scheduled to open on May 21 and approve the Law onSpecial Administrative-Economic Units.

Theunprecedented law has been built for three special administrative-economiczones, including Van Don in the northern province of Quang Ninh, Bac Van Phongin the central province of Khanh Hoa and Phu Quoc in the southern province ofKien Giang.

Thesezones, which are expected to create new momentums for the national economicdevelopment, will be places where special and unprecedented mechanisms andpolicies will be piloted.

Thedevelopment of the three zones demonstrates the consistent policy and attentionof the Party, National Assembly and Government to the model, Dung said.

Itis a hard task to develop such law, he said, stressing the need to takecautious steps and get an update on international practice during the process,which however, should not seek perfectionism.

SebastianEckardt, a World Bank expert, said the establishment of special economic zonesshould be combined with a comprehensive strategy on industrial development andforeign direct investment, focusing on location, connectivity, infrastructureand investment environment improvement.

NguyenVan Thanh, Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of Quang Ninh province,described investors as a decisive factor to the success of the special zones.  

Therefore,Quang Ninh province has improved transport, technological and socialinfrastructure to lure more investors, he said.

Van Don in QuangNinh province has a politically and economically important position as it lieson strategic transit route from East Asia to Southeast Asia and from ASEAN toChina, in Vietnam-China “two corridors, one belt” cooperation area, inNanning-Singapore economic corridor and in extended Tonkin Gulf inter-regionalcooperation area.

The Van Donspecial administrative-economic unit project defines key industries oftourism-service, industry and agriculture. In the first phrase (2018-2022), theproject will focus on casino entertainment tourism, seaport, aviation, trade,international shopping centers, innovation technology, and start-up centers,while the second phrase (2023-2026) will feature parks, fisheries, aquaticprocessing, logistics services, education and training, financial services, andhealthcare. The third phrase (2027-2030) will aim at biological technology,green technology, and hi-tech agriculture.

Meanwhile, thePeople’s Committee in Khanh Hoa province estimated that more than 100 trillionVND (4.4 billion USD) was needed to develop infrastructure for the Bac VanPhong special administrative-economic zone by 2025.

The zone willfocus on developing marine transport, logistics, trade and financial services,as well as tourism, healthcare, education services and hi-tech industries.

Located on theVienam-Cambodia-Thailand marine economic corridor, Phu Quoc is dubbed the“pearl” island. It covers an area of nearly 600 square kilometers with apopulation of over 100,000 people.

Many investorsare flocking towards the “promised land,” especially since early 2014 when theisland was connected to the national electrical grid via submarine cables.

The Ministry ofPlanning and Investment, which is in charge of drafting the Law on SpecialAdministrative-Economic Units, expected that with preferential incentives, thethree special zones would attract investment worth dozens of billions ofdollars, which would generate huge sums in terms of added value and boostaverage income to 12,000-13,000 USD per capita.-VNA