At a recent meeting with the People’s Committee of Khanh Hoa province, Johnathan Hanh Nguyen, chairman of IPP expressed the group’s desire to invest in the Bac Van Phong SEZ to build facilities such as a tourist area, smart city, residential and industrial areas, airport, roads and port area.
Bac Van Phong has many advantages to become a special economic zone
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An amount of $3 - $10 billion would be invested in energy, telecommunications, transport and water supply, whilst $5 billion would be poured into an airport and another $5 billion is expected to be invested in deep-water port. Port services will cost about $3 billion.
IPP also presented the model and roadmap to develop the Bac Van Phong SEZ into a modern one which is far different from Van Don and Phu Quoc SEZs.
Early last month, IPP also recommended investing in the non-tariff area at Van Don SEZ with the total investment of $440 million. The project is expected to be implemented in the 2018 – 2023 period. It will include a duty free shop and supermarket, fashion outlets, hotels, shopping and food street area, indoor and outdoor recreation parks, office space and a conference, finance and tourism center as well as many other items as the Van Don planning.
Bac Van Phong district in Khanh Hoa province has many advantages to become a special economic zone, creating a lever for the central region’s development.
The area’s Van Phong Bay, a large and deep bay in Vietnam, covers 46,000 ha including water surface and coastal land. With a depth of 20 to 25 meters, it is one of the best natural bays in Southeast Asia which has potential to become an international transit hub. Van Phong Bay has the most beautiful beaches in Vietnam boasting potential for tourism development.
The Van Phong Economic Zone was established in 2006 on an area of 150,000 hectares with 70,000 ha on the mainland and remainder being water surface. The Van Phong Economic Zone has an international container transit port, oil refinery, and a transit hub for oil and oil services. It has attracted 145 investment projects with a total registered capital of US$1.5 billion.
Le Duc Vinh, Chairman of the Khanh Hoa Provincial People’s Committee, said that Van Phong’s driving forces are its deep seaport, marine economy, and international shipping routes. Khanh Hoa province will focus on promoting seaport and logistics services, international trade-financial services, high-end entertainment and casino services, and hi-tech science, health, education, and intellectual property services.
Late last year, the draft Law on Special Administrative-Economic Zone was submitted at the National Assembly’s year-end session under which Bac Van Phong was selected as one of the three locations to build special economic zones.
Nguyen Sy Dong, a National Assembly deputy for Quang Tri province, said that the law on Special Administrative-Economic Zone is necessary to create a breakthrough for the economy. Over the years, economic zones have been operating relatively well but it’s extremely important to develop specific regulations with particular mechanisms for the special administrative-economic model to lure more investment.
