Quang Ninh (VNA) – The north-easternborder province of Quang Ninh needs a special administrative-economic unit withspecific preferential mechanism to make the best use of local advantages, and attractinvestment, high technology and new advanced management to build a high-growthregion and speed up economic restructuring and development.
Deputy head of the management board of QuangNinh economic zone Hoang Trung Kien said the building of Van Don specialadministrative-economic unit is suitable with the global development trend. So far, Van Don has attracted 51 trillion VND(2.24 billion USD) from big investors in various fields such as transportinfrastructure, tourism and services, he noted.
Sun Group has been selected to be Quang Ninh’sstrategic investor in socio-economic development and building Van Don into a“special economic region”, he said, adding that the group has poured investmentin a number of major projects, including the Van Don international airport,which was constructed under the build-operation-transfer (BOT) form on an areaof around 400 hectares in Doan Ket commune. The nearly two-billion-USD projectis expected to be put into operation in mid-2018.
The group has also been investing in building ahi-end resort complex in Van Don with a casino, a 2,000-room five-star hotel, aconference hall, and a trade centre.
Other big investors, including Viglacera corporation,is investing in a hi-end resort area of Quan Lan island with 150 rooms, whileCEO Group and FLC Group are nurturing ambitious plans in Van Don district.
Vice Chairman of the provincial People’sCommittee Nguyen Van Thanh said Quang Ninh is confident with the Van Donspecial administrative-economic unit project, adding that local preferentialpolicies are drawing much attention from investors.
Meanwhile, Vice Chairman of the People’sCommittee of Van Don district To Van Hai said Van Don boasts favourableconditions to build a special administrative-economic unit, including itsstrategic political, economic and geographical position as lying along thestrategic transit route from East Asia to Southeast Asia and ASEAN-China, arapid growth area and one of the most dynamic development centers in the world.
Additionally, the transport infrastructure isbeing improved, notably the Hanoi-Hai Phong-Ha Long-Van Don-Mong Caiexpressway, the Van Don international airport, and the Hon Net-Con Ong seaportwhich is 21 meters deep and capable of receiving 150,000 DWT ships.
The Government has decided to initially developthree special administrative-economic units - Van Don in northern Quang Ninhprovince, Bac Van Phong in central Khanh Hoa and Phu Quoc in southern KienGiang.
The Van Don special administrative-economic unitproject defines key industries of tourism-service, industry and agriculture. Inthe first phrase (2018-2022), the project will focus on casino entertainmenttourism, seaport, aviation, trade, international shopping centers, innovationtechnology, and start-up centers, while the second phrase (2023-2026) willfeature parks, fisheries, aquatic processing, logistics services, education andtraining, financial services, and healthcare. The third phrase (2027-2030) willaim at biological technology, green technology, and hi-tech agriculture.
Special administrative-economic units are magnet for investment, hightechnology and advanced management mode for the formation of a high growth areathat generates more resources and accelerates local economic restructuring anddevelopment.-VNA