Ninh Binh chosen to become No 1 Trang An – Bai Dinh Eco-tourism Area, a major attraction in northern Ninh Binh Province. Tourism is among key sectors that help the province attract investors. — VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Ha NINH BINH (VNS)— The northern province of Ninh Binh should continue to perfect its investment policies, foster administrative reforms and improve infrastructure facilities in order to attract more investment capital. Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh delivered this message during the Ninh Binh Investment Promotion Conference organised yesterday in the province. Improving the quality of human resources and resolving difficulties facing investors in a timely fashion are also necessary, the Deputy PM said. He suggested that the province pay more attention to promotion campaigns further advertising its huge potential as a tourist destination while introducing appropriate policies to enable it to become the key tourism centre of the Red River Delta region and the country as a whole in the next three years. "Ninh Binh is providing foreign and domestic investors with huge opportunities in various sectors such as tourism, manufacturing, electronics, hi-tech industries, agriculture, seafood and animal husbandry," said the provincial Party Committee's Secretary Bui Van Nam. "We invite and are ready to co-operate with all investors who are interested in the potential and advantages of Ninh Binh, the land of the ancient Hoa Lu capital. We are willing to create a favourable investment environment for both domestic and foreign enterprises," he said. Nam added that he hoped the conference would provide a good chance for State authorities and ministries to work with domestic and foreign investors to learn about Ninh Binh' socio-economic development issues and its untapped investment opportunities, as well as to propose measures for sustainable development that could help the province attract maximum resources for its socio-economic development. Over the years, Ninh Binh has gained a stable annual economic growth rate of above 10 per cent, especially during 2006-10, when the province's GDP expanded 16.5 per cent per year, according to the provincial People's Committee chairman Bui Van Thang. The province has since developed its industry and tourism sectors and created a sound economic structure, Thang said, adding that the ratio of industry-construction accounts for 49 per cent of the provincial GDP while agro-forestry-fishery makes up 15 per cent and the service sector contributes 36 per cent. Despite gaining encouraging economic results over the past few years, Ninh Binh is still encountering several challenges, Thang said. He outlined the influence of the global financial crisis and the domestic economic downturn, which had a significant impact on the attraction of investing in the province, and resulted in insufficient infrastructure and a lack of skilled labour. Speaking at the conference yesterday, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hoang Tuan Anh spoke highly of the provincial advantages and potentials in the tourism sector. He suggested the provincial authorities draw up an effective development scheme for the sector to ensure it grows sustainably, and concentrate on improving the quality of human resources for the sector. He also emphasised the importance of establishing a fund used for domestic and overseas promotion activities. During the event, the province granted investment licences to seven projects with a value totalling over VND9.1 trillion (US$433 million). These projects cover the sub-sectors of steel, seaport expansion, agriculture processing, tourism and real estate as well as hotels. Five Memorandum of Understanding agreements were made between local authorities and investors in trade promotion, beer, housing and real estate. "Ninh Binh's large land area for production, convenient transport, abundant personnel resources and provincial investment incentives have persuaded our company to develop our project here," said Harima Naoki, general director of Kyoei Steel Viet Nam Co, which received a licence to build a VND3.87 trillion ($185.7 million) steel complex in the province yesterday. Yesterday the province also published a list of 20 projects calling for investment during the 2012-2015 period. Nine of these are industrial production developments, eight involve agricultural and urban technical infrastructure, while the remainder are tourism and service projects. During the first nine months of this year, the province granted licenses to 14 projects including four that are receiving foreign investment and pledging about VND4.22 trillion ($202.5 million), according to the provincial Department of Planning and Investment's statistics. The latest additions has brought the number of licensed projects in the province up to 451, worth a combined value of VND82.18 trillion ($4 billion). Of this total, 28 are foreign-invested and worth $954 million. Ninh Binh has launched multiple investment incentives and has reformed administrative procedures targeting a one-stop mechanism to facilitate investors. — VNS