Hanoi licenses $1.7 billion in major projects
Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung also committed to pushing up reforms, especially in administrative procedures, to provide support to the city’s business community.
The projects are both locally and foreign-owned and in the fields of telecommunications, urban water supply, entertainment, housing, health, and commercial services. Seven are foreign-invested and 16 domestically-invested.
Among projects granted a license were those owned by Vietnammobile, Sugiko Group Holdings Co. Ltd, JX Nippon Oil & Energy Vietnam, and Arimi Retail Center.
Indochina Capital was also granted a license to develop a park in Cau Giay district while Vingroup is to build a ring road.
The Bitexco Group was given permission to develop a commercial center while the retailer Hapro will build a center for distribution and shopping and the Vija Metech SJC will build a new hospital. All of these projects are yet to release their investment figures.
Speaking at the business conference where the projects were licensed, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc urged Hanoi authorities to promote reform to assist the business community.
“Hanoi needs to set the task of facilitating businesses as the top priority in all its activities,” the PM directed, adding that the city must stand ready to accept innovation and take initiatives to encourage and support startups.
Hanoi Party Chief Hoang Trung Hai told the event that the city needs $115.5 billion in social investment between 2016 and 2020, 80 per cent of which will from the private sector and the foreign-invested sector.
Mr. Chung introduced a list of projects calling for investment, including 52 public-private partnership projects and 43 project with non-state investment, worth $16 billion and $17.5 billion, respectively.
He pledged that business registration will now be done online and take two working days instead of the previous three and the city will cut the time needed to complete administrative procedures relating to investment by 40 per cent.
“The State sector will be smaller and more effective and Hanoi needs to be a leader in this regard,” PM Phuc insisted.
“It needs to create an information management system so that leaders can monitor and make timely interventions to ensure that the city implements its commitments to businesses.”
Mr. Chung also committed that Hanoi would try to help almost 100 per cent of the city-based enterprises complete tax procedures online.
“The city will cut at least 20 per cent of administrative procedures in the fields of land clearance and retrieval and some 50 per cent of paperwork for urban planning,” he said.
Hanoi led the country in terms of foreign direct investment (FDI) during the first five months of 2016, with $1.86 billion, or 24.6 per cent of the total nationwide, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment.
