Bottled water is produced at Suntory Pepsico Viet Nam in Tra Noc 2 Industrial Zone, southern Can Tho Province. The Cuu Long Delta city is calling for more investment. — VNA/VNS Photo Duy Khuong

It has actively co-ordinated with ministries and central agencies to build social infrastructure, especially transport systems featuring an airport, ports and roads linking the city with other localities in the delta to facilitate transport of goods.

It has also focused on building infrastructure at IPs to serve businesses operating there.

For instance, Tra Noc IP has built a wastewater treatment plant with a capacity of 6,000cu.m a day while Not IP has a plant with a capacity of 2,500cu.m.

At Thot Not, Saigon-New Port Corporation has put into operation the Tan Cang-Thot Not port capable of receiving 2,000 DWT vessels and 1,000-tonne barges and with a 1.1ha freight yard.

The terminal plays an important part in loading goods and containers with a focus on rice, aquatic products and animal feed from Can Tho and neighbouring provinces including An Giang, Kien Giang and Dong Thap.

The terminal also provides all-in logistics services for waterways connecting the Mekong Delta with HCM City and deep-water ports such as Cai Mep-Thi Vai port as well as with Cambodia.

In addition to building technical infrastructure, the city also offers incentives and policies to support investors.

Factories in IPs in priority sectors and with an investment of VND60 billion ($2.69 million) or more will get a 20 per cent interest subsidy on loans.

The city plans to continue with the task of completing administrative procedures and creating a fair and transparent business environment among others in addition to offering clean lands at IPs to attract more investors.

According to the Can Tho Industrial Parks and Export Processing Zones Authority, the city has six concentrated industrial parks — the 135ha Tra Noc 1 (fully occupied), 155ha Tra Noc 2 (96 per cent occupation), 262ha Hung Phu 1 (21 per cent occupation), 134ha Hung Phu 2A (43.4 per cent occupation), 62ha Hung Phu 2B (South Korea's Tae Kwang Company leased all), and the 600ha Thot Not (61 per cent out of 104ha in the first phase leased).

In addition, the Government has added two other IPs – O Mon IP with 600ha and Bac O Mon IP with 400ha in the city – to the zoning plan for IPs development in Viet Nam.

According to its Department of Planning and Investment, in the first nine months of the year city IPs attracted seven projects with a total registered capital of nearly $190 million.

Together the IPs are home to 223 projects with a total investment of $2.12 billion, of which 22 with an investment of $369.87 million are foreign-owned, it said.

In the past 20 years the IPs have greatly contributed to social and economic development of the city in particular and the Mekong Delta region and the country in general. — VNS