One year after making commitments with investors, Hanoi has confirmed its national pioneering position in improving the investment environment.
“We want everything at its simplest and most attractive so that you can invest and do business in a long stable term, earning profits for both sides,” such is the committment by the Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung to the enterprise community and investors at the “Hanoi 2016 – Investment and Development Cooperation” conference. However, attracting investment is not the utmost priority but selective investment. The process needs to involve strict selections specifically focusing on high tech, advanced IT projects as a foundation to develop smart city, infrastructure development project, high quality services, creating linkage between Hanoi and other provinces and between Hanoi and other big export markets. More importantly, all projects have to aim towards stable development and ensuring social welfare. In short, development is for the citizen benefit.
The above-mentioned orientation have contributed to attract investment to Hanoi, proven by the considerable number of projects and committed funds coming from big enterprises larger than that of previous years. The investors made committments in 26 contents under 10 programs in the following fields: green trees, environmental clean-up, high tech health services, educational assistance, safe water for rural areas, assistance for the poor to access IT , food safety, high tech application in agriculture, urban planning, and social security support.
The leaders committments have strengthened the joint effort between the city and enterprises. As investment from social sources is regarded as decisive for the city’s economic development, private enterprises are given opportunities to grow. In addition to the programs, resolutions and plans of actions of the Party, government and city (particularly the resolution no. 19/NQ-CP with regard to the improvement of business environment, improvement of the economic competitiveness and the resolution 35NQ-CP supporting business development until 2020), Hanoi has initiated many actions including: increasing communication with enterprises to clear any business barrier; establishing of the modern bureaucratic system; creating digital government and smart city; supporting start-ups, facilitating land and production ground approach, labor force training, facilitating connection between enterprises and banks, assisting enterprises in finding markets and new technologies; and speeding up regional connectivity and the establishment of value chains.
The bureaucratic system, one of the shortcomings in Hanoi, has seen fundamental transformations. Administrative discipline has been enhanced on 5 standards of “concretes”: “concrete staff, concrete assignment, concrete procedure, concrete responsibility and concrete efficiency ” and “one assignment, one staff”. The bureaucratic machine is moving toward “making people and enterprises as targets for services.”
Preliminary results for these efforts are proven by numbers and concrete assessments. The Provincial Competitive Index (PCI) of Hanoi ranks 24 out of 63, increasing 2 levels in comparison to the previous years, and is the highest ranking for Hanoi since the PCI was launched. Private investment as of December 31, 2016 reached 439.2 trillion VND or 20 billion US dollars, in which foreign investment fund accounting for 3.11 billion USD (an increase of 2.93 times in comparison to that of 2015 and two-fold than the expected number in 2016; approx. 23,000 businesses were registered, up 18% with a registered capital of 232.758 trillion VND or roughly 10 billion US dollars, up by 63%. Cooperation with countries and new market continue to be expanded.
However, the remarkable achievement behind these numbers is the transformation of the urban look in terms of infrastructure. Furthermore, citizens in rural areas have accessed with new production technology, better healthcare, education and IT services; poor and near-poor households are supported to build or repair their houses, contributing significantly to Hanoi social welfare improvement.
Concrete commitments and drastic actions to improve business environment, increasing Hanoi economy’s competitiveness, fulfilling its role in creating conditions and supporting for start-ups, creativity and innovation will continue to be discussed in the “Hanoi 2017 – Cooperation for Investment & Development” conference. As Chairman of Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung stressed spoke before the enterprise community and investors: “We sincerely welcome and are willing to cooperate with enterprises, business, and investors looking for potentials, advantages and aiming to build Hanoi into a safe and successful investment destination for domestic and foreign investors”.
